Alternate paths
by Melissa98
Summary: Alternate ending to episode 9. Ezra And Kanan are captured by the Inquisitor. Ezra is taken to a moon of Trandosa where his is told to find a Kyber crystal by any means necessary otherwise he will be trapped there forever. He also faces the threat of bounty hunters trying to kill him. Meanwhile, the crew on the ghost work to find Ezra and Kanan and acquire new help along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Alternate path**

**Well, I thought the inquisitor was an idiot in episode 9 so I wrote this in a couple of hours as a one shot for what should've/could've happened.**

Everything was going smoothly. The inquisitor had followed them according to plan and Kanan had managed to get Ezra to open up and forgive his old friend. He thought that everything would go smoothly.

How naïve.

As Kanan fought the inquisitor he kept trying to think of new tactics to defeat him. At one point even drawing his blaster, but the inquisitor just toyed with him. The second Kanan even reached for it the Inquisitor used the force and took it in his own hand.

Kanan then charged at the Inquisitor with his lightsaber. The Inquisitor smiled and threw the gun into the air. But it didn't hit the ground. With ease the Inquisitor held back the Jedi even to the point of only using one hand.

"My my. You're relying on anger to try and defeat me? I thought you were a Jedi." The Inquisitor managed to force Kanen back a few feet and then, using the force again, the Inquisitor quickly lowered the suspended blaster into his hand and took aim.

"Kanan!" Ezra had felt Kanan's presence weaken. He stopped controlling the creatures and turned to the fight. Kanan was grasping his right shoulder, his lights saber lying on the ground. The Inquisitor was smiling sadistically and turned to Ezra.

Ezra waisted no time. He ran over to Kanan's side, grabbed his light saber and stood in front of Kanan's to protect him.

"Ezra," Kanan said while panting. The blood was starting to drench parts of his clothes. "Get out of here!"

"Not without you!" Ezra responded. "Your suppose to teach me the ways of the force right? Can't have you getting yourself killed just when things started to get interesting." The Inquisitor laughed at this and took a step towards the boy. Ezra pointed the lightsaber at him.

"Stay back!" He said sternly. The Inquisitor smiled and using the force, took the lightsaber out of Ezra's hand. Suspending the blaster in the air like he did before.

"Oh but I'm afraid I can't do that." The Inquisitor responded and stabbed the blue lightsaber into the ground so he could hold the blaster again.

"In fact, I believe it's time we end Jedi and Padawan once and for all." The Inquisitor shot another round only this time directed at Ezra. Kanen's managed to move in front of him in time though and took the shot to the side of his chest.

"KANAN!" Ezra yelled. Kanan had fallen to the ground at this point.

"Run... Ez..." Kanan's couldn't finish his sentence before he passed out. Ezra couldn't stay by his side for long, for the Inquisitor stood above him, still smiling sadistically as he threw the blaster onto the ground and picked up the blue lightsaber again.

Ezra tried to run but the only place to go to was a cliff. He kept backing up and for further intimidation, the Inquisitor dragged both lightsabers on the ground. Ezra had no where to go.

"Your devotion to your master is admirable but it will not save you. Nothing can." Ezra tried to climb over some rocks but the Inquisitor just force-pushed him almost off the edge.

"Get back!" Ezra yelled as he stood up.

"Ah yes. Good good! Unleash your fear..." The Inquisitor began to laugh. "You're much more wise than your pathetic excuse for a master." The Inquisitor pointed his lightsaber at Ezra. "I will teach you what your master could not."

"You don't have anything to teach me!" Ezra yelled.

"The darkness, it's to strong for you. It will swallow you up."

"No..." Ezra looked back at Kanan. The Inquisitor's smile grew.

"Your master will die." He said.

"No..."

"Your friends will die and everything you hoped for, will be lost. This is how the story ends." Ezra clenched his fist together. And focused on one thing and one thing only, defeating him.

"NO!" He yelled. His hands were now open and looked as though they were lifting something large up. The pebbles around the two began to rise and even Kanan woke up from his black out. He managed to move his head and see Ezra do the unthinkable.

"Ezra... No..." He said as he reached his hand out to him. This was all his fault. Ezra was now engulfing himself in darkness in order to protect him.

Ezra had summoned what appeared to be the strongest of the creatures and had him at his beck and call. The Inquisitor was shocked to say the least.

_Perhaps this child is more powerful than I anticipated. Still, he can't control his power. Nevertheless he will be a worthy edition to the dark side._

Ezra casted his hand in the direction of the Inquisitor and the beast went after him. However afterwards, passed out right next to the cliff.

Meanwhile, the Inquisitor, having gotten over the shock of how much power the boy had displayed, thew the blue lightsaber to the side, in favor of his own, and, while gripping the red lightsaber with both hands tightly, charged at the beast. He then slid under it and stabbed it in what he hopped was the heart. The animal screeched loudly and fell beside the Inquisitor.

He walked slowly to Ezra and stared down at the sleeping boy. He retract his lightsaber and placed it on his back. Then, he picked up Ezra and threw the boy over his shoulder.

Kanan watched helplessly as this occurred. The storm troopers had managed to fight off the rest of the smaller creatures and we're now approaching him. The Inquisitor walked over as well. Kanan glared at him.

"Sir what's should we do with him?" Asked one of the storm troopers. The Inquisitor pondered what to do before coming up with a suitable solution.

"We will take him into custody and to Corasaunt. There he will be tried for treason against the empire."

"And what about the boy?" The Inquisitor smiled.

"I believe that I am in need of an apprentice. Besides he's young enough to be molded into the perfect dark knight."

"You won't get away with this." Kanan broke in. The Inquisitor glared at Kanan and then turned to the storm trooper.

"You may proceed. However have a medical droid operate on his chest wound when we return to the star destroyer."

"But sir..."

"We need to make an example of this Jedi. When he is found guilty of treason it will show the Galaxy who the true heroes are."

Kanan was carried to the small imperial ship by two storm troopers. There was a small cell aboard the ship and Kanan had his hands cuffed behind his back, and was thrown into the cell. Ezra on the other hand, was cuffed and instead strapped into one of the seats on the ship. When everyone was boarded, they took off.

In his pain, Kanan tried to use the force to communicated with Ezra since he knew he didn't have much time left.

_Ezra... Ezra can you hear me?_

"Kanan?" Ezra whispered as he slightly opened his eyes. He was still utterly exhausted from what he did earlier.

_Shh... Don't talk. Listen to me. We've been captured by the Inquisitor. I won't be with you soon so you have to promise me you'll stay strong and not fall into the dark side._

"Where are you-"

"Shut up kid." One of the storm troopers sitting next to him said.

_I'm proud of you Ezra. You've learned so much and overcome even more. Now you must live on. I wish I could've taught you so much more. Your power was growing faster than I could keep up with. Forgive me for not being a better master. I-_

"Don't say that." Ezra whispered. "You're a great-"

"I said shut up!" The storm trooper yelled. The Inquisitor, who had been at the front of the ship, helping with the navigation turned around and walked over to the two.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked. The storm trooper, now shaken with fear, couldn't respond.

"I asked, what was the problem?" The storm trooper gulped.

"Well sir," he said while pointing at the still half awake Ezra, "the prisoner keeps talking to himself." The Inquisitor looked curiously at the boy.

"Don't go..." Ezra whispered. "I need you to teach me how to become a Jedi." The Inquisitor realized what was happening and walked over to Kanan's cell.

Kanan managed to turn his beaten form when he sensed the Inquisitor's presence come closer. The Inquisitor glared at him and sent a small but deadly wave of the force at Kanan's mind. Kanan began gripping his head and and try to shake the pain away.

_Stop interfering. You'll only make it harder for the boy when he sees your death broadcasted all over the galaxy._

_Leave Ezra out of this. He's just a kid._

_So that's the boy's name. Unfortunately I can't for you see he shows great potential. It would be a shame to waist it._

_You won't-_

"I've grown tired of your constant ramblings." The Inquisitor raised Kanan up and began to choke him.

"Perhaps I should just kill you here?" Kanan was flailing his arms trying to fight back, but he was too weak to even use the Jedi mind trick. "No that wouldn't be right. You need to die in front of the masses as the imperial march plays. Who knows? We might make it a tradition to kill Jedi and other traitors the day after empire day."

The Inquisitor let go and dropped Kanan to the ground, leaving him gasping for air and slowly blacking out.

_Ezra... I am happy that I was able to call you my padawan..._

"Kanan?"Ezra asked, now completely awake. He opened his eyes more and saw his surroundings. He tried to stand up but noticed he was strapped into a seat next to a storm trooper. He began frantically jerking.

"Kanan? Kanan!" He yelled. The Inquisitor rushed back to Ezra and quickly used the force to nock him out again. He didn't want the boy lashing out again because he couldn't control his power. The Inquisitor slowly walked up to the pilot and looked at the approaching imperial star cruiser. He knew that with the boy, things would change for the empire. Things would change indeed.

**So yeah that was my one shot. Like my apprentice fanfic for ultimate spiderman if enough people like it I'll continue it. But as it stands I have no plans on writing anymore than this. All I wanted to do was prove that the writers were idiots for making the Inquisitor come across as an idiot. (So your telling me that the first thing you do when confronted by a gigantic creature is to swing your lightsaber around before yelling at it to make the thing go away? Why not forced choke it or, you know, KILL IT?) If I misspelled anything it's because I rushed this out after a couple of hours because I wanted to get the idea out of my head as soon as possible.**

**UPDATE: picture is from Ezra-The-Rebel's deviantart page. Go check it out it's awesome!**


	2. Chapter 2

Alternate paths chapter 2

**I was originally not going to continue this, but with the support, and a strike of inspiration, I have an idea. Though a fair warning, I'm going to talk about ships going to certain planets and low and behold, there isn't an updated Star Wars map with Lothal on it. (Or at least one I can find.) -_- So ****if you understand how Star Wars travel works and complain that Lothal is no where near the specific planet mentioned, I could not find a Star Wars Galaxy map with Lothal on it. (Seriously I spent almost an hour staring at Star Wars maps. I was getting a headache)**

**Also, I'm calling back to The clone wars with this.**

* * *

"I have returned, master." The Inquisitor said.

"And we're you successful?" His master answered

"Yes. I captured the Jedi and his padawan."

"Good. I want the Jedi brought to corasuant immediately."

"It will be done."

"Send the boy with the others."

"Yes my lord."

"This will be his test. If he impresses us then he will be a worth apprentice for you. However if he fails to accomplish this, we will have no choice but to leave him."

"Very well my lord. I will see you by tomorrow I hope."

"I look forward to it." His master shut off the hologram.

"Soon boy you will see the true power of the dark side."

* * *

"They should've been back by now." Zeb said as he slouched on the couch.

"I'm worried too." Sabine said as she sat down next to him. Hera stood against the wall.

"We'll go check on them tomorrow. Although, we can't jump to conclusions on what's been going on." Hera walked over to them and turned on the imperial hollownet.

"What are you doing?" Zeb asked.

"Gall Trayvis usually broadcasts around this time. Maybe he has some information regarding what the empire is planning."

"And Fulcrum doesn't?" Sabine asked sarcastically. Hera smiled.

"Well, Fulcrum didn't have anything new to feed me when I dropped off Zibo."

"So we're just sitting ducks until they get back?" Zeb asked.

"Pretty much." Hera answered. Just then, the empire broadcast was interrupted and the picture of Gall Travis appeared. Everyone stared at the display.

"Greetings. This is former senator in exile Gall Travis, coming to you with a reminder that the empire applies the term, 'insurgent' to anyone who dares to defy their tyranny. Such as some very courageous souls on Lothal. To those rebels, I have a message. The sun may have set on the old republic, but a new age of freedom can be won if we are brave enough to fight for it today. See you soon my friends."

"And so in other news..."

They four sat there. Sabine and Zeb were smiling while Hera was calculating.

"He's coming to Lothal." Zeb and Sabine and Zeb looked at Hera.

"Are you serious?" Sabine asked. Hera nodded.

"Whenever he mentions a planet its usually the next one he goes to."

"How come the empire hasn't caught on?" Zeb asked.

"I said _usually_." Hera answered. "Travis is smart enough to know they'll catch on if he goes to every planet he mentions."

"So the question is, if he does come to Lothal, where and when should we meet?" Hera stroked her chin for a few minutes.

"Well, it's almost one hundred hours so I assume he means technically today at sunset. The only question is, is where. His messages are meant to only be noticed by the natives. Oh if only we had Ezra here."

"Speaking of the kid, when are those two suppose to be back?" Zeb asked.

"Relax Zeb." Hera said. "If they aren't back by, seven hundred hours then we'll go after them."

"What about the senator?" Sabine asked.

"I'm afraid he'll have to wait if Kanan and Ezra take more time than expected."

"That makes sense. So meet back here in six hours?" Sabine asked. The other two nodded while Chopper just sat in the background.

* * *

"Agent Kallus, are you sure this plan will work?"

"Of course I'm sure. Now that the Inquisitor has the Jedi and his padawan, it should be child's play to catch the rest."

"And if this plan of yours fails?"

"Then our rat will stay with them for a while. When that happens we can set up another plan to catch them all."

"You really have thought this through."

"I've been careless with my previous attempts to catch them. This time though it will be different."

"I wish you luck."

* * *

_"I will teach you what your master could not." The Inquisitor said as Ezra backed up closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. Ezra was afraid. Kanan was down and the Inquisitor had Kanan's lightsaber. Even so, Ezra stood defiantly and stared at the Inquisitor in the same light._

_"You don't have anything to teach me!" He yelled. The Inquisitor threw Kanan's lightsaber to the side and held out his hand. It looked as though he was choking someone. Ezra flew into the air and felt an invisible hand choking him. The Inquisitor laughed and moved the flailing Ezra so he was over the black abyss._

_"The darkness will swallow you up." the. Inquisitor said while grinning, "Whether you want it to or not." The Inquisitor lowered his hand and Ezra fell. As he fell, his own screams were drowned out by demented laughter._

"Gha!" Ezra yelled as he jerked up. He saw that he was laying in sand on a strange beach with rocks and debris everywhere around him. He was also for some strange reason in a cadet uniform. Out of the corner of his eye between some rocks, he saw _him. _The Inquisitor with a ship right behind him.

"_You..._" Ezra said. He felt his blood boiling. The Inquisitor smiled.

"Enjoying your surroundings Ezra Bridger?" The inquisitor asked. Ezra's eyes widened in confusion.

"How do you-"

"Your master was very informative, not to mention all the information the Empire has at its disposal." Ezra gritted his teeth.

"Where am I?" Ezra asked. "What do you want from me?"

"You are on one of the moons of Trandosa. You have one goal and one goal only. Find a kyber crystal at any means necessary and meet me here in one month."

"What am I going to do for food?" Ezra asked. The inquisitor smiled.

"That's your problem not mine." He answered.

"So you're just going to leave me here to die?" Ezra asked. The inquisitor shook his head.

"I told you already. You have one goal. Find the kyber crystal at any cost. Then, in one months time, I will return to this very beach and if you have the crystal, I will take you off this planet and make you my apprentice. If you die it won't affect me in the slightest. You're life is expendable boy. Get use to it."

"You never mentioned that!" Ezra yelled.

"Oh I didn't? It must have slipped my mind."

"I'll never join you." The Inquisitor chuckled.

"Then enjoy a miserable existence hiding from the hunters."

"Hunters?" The inquisitor smiled.

"Oh you don't know? The Transdosans love to capture people from all across the galaxy and drop them off here. Then they hunt them down and are killed as a, 'right of passage' for their sons and daughters to become bounty hunters."

Ezra sat in defeat. Everything he had grown accustomed to had slipped through his fingers and he couldn't do anything about it. He knew his fate yet stood up strong and stared the Inquisitor down.

"I will find that kyber crystal, but I won't become your apprentice."

"Oh? A kyber crystal is pretty useless unless it's powering something. And even then the one I've hidden for you is very small and could only power a lightsaber."

"Those things can power lightsabers?" Ezra asked. The inquisitor nodded. Ezra looked at the rusted wreckage next to him and smiled.

"You've waisted enough of my time boy." The inquisitor said, interrupting Ezra's thought process. The inquisitor turned around and walked onto the ship.

"Enjoy your stay." The inquisitor said as he looked back at Ezra when he entered the ship. Ezra didn't try to follow. He knew the Inquisitor would only use the force to send him back. Instead he simply watched as the ship took off and left the moon.

"I thought he'd never leave." A new, feminine voice came from behind Ezra turned around and saw a girl with dark skin and black hair in a ponytail emerge from the forest. Her clothes barely looked like a cadet uniform for it was covered in dirt and was torn in the shoulder where you'd find the empire's symbol and in other places though not as big. Her black boots were intact though. Ezra looked at her up and down trying to understand why she was even there. She eventually reached him and reached out her hand.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Ezra hesitated at first, but eventually took her hand.

"I'm fine." He lied. She frowned and stomped on the sand.

"I can't believe he brought another one." She lamented and continued to kick the sand. Meanwhile, Ezra stood in confusion.

"There are more people brought here?" He asked. She stopped kicking the sand and nodded.

"He takes cadets at random and drops them off here. All he tells us is where we are and that our only way off this death trap is to get a kyber crystal he's hidden here." Ezra nodded.

"So what's your name?" She asked. Ezra paused.

"Dev." The girl smiled.

"Cool. Mine's Dhara." She said.

_Where have I heard that name before?_

Dhara walked towards the forest and motioned Ezra to follow. He obliged though found it difficult walking on the various trees and vines.

"So, um... How many others are there?" Ezra asked as he tried to balance on a very long and thick branch. Dhara smiled at Ezra's struggle.

"We're spread out across this area and we only really meet when there's a lot of a hunters out. We help each other out and leave."

"Why?" Ezra asked.

"Because that's how things are." Dhara answered angrily effectively silencing Ezra for the rest of the trip.

The two climbed a long vine that curved upward and lead to a huge hole in the vast forest of vines. When inside, Ezra couldn't see anything until Dhara started up a fire. He then noticed the entire hole was made up of various vines, trees, and tree branches. There were even spots high up where you could sit though besides that the only not worthy thing was that the fire was on a pan verses on the ground. That was probably for the best.

Ezra sat down next to the fire and Dhara took a spot large enough to have someone lay down above and across from him. She then turned away from Ezra.

"Get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow." She said.

"Why?" Ezra asked. "Can't we just wait here and see if anyone comes for us."

"No one is coming for us." Dhara answered angrily. "The empire dropped us off here and unless those rebels show up, there's no way we're getting off this planet."

"Unless we get a kyber crystal." Dhara turned around and looked down at Ezra.

"Listen Dev, we know where it is."

"Then why haven't you..."

"The last time we tried to go after it, almost all of us died. No one wants to risk their lives on something like that anymore so we're just going to stay in hiding."

"But why not stay here all the time?"

"The hunters will track us. You can't stay in one place for too long. They love going after cadets. I heard the Inquisitor pays them for every cadet that they kill." She pointed at Ezra's clothes. "I suggest you cover that in dirt before you go out tomorrow. You'll be spotted if you don't blend in." Ezra nodded but didn't put any dirt on, he decided to save that for tomorrow.

"Dhara, where is the crystal?" Ezra asked. Dhara didn't answer. And Ezra laid back onto one of the vines and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

_"Kid! Where are you?"_

_"MOVE!"_

_"You..."_

_"Ezra! Kannan!"_

_"I see you've made yourself a lightsaber. No matter I..."_

_"I will make you suffer..."_

_"It's no use they're gone."_

_"RUN FASTER YOU IDIOT!"_

_"for all the lives you've ruined..."_

_"His parents..."_

_"You will be my first of many."_

_"Tortured..."_

_"He's not here."_

_"DIE!"_

_"and destroyed."_

_"Ezra?"_

_"Please find my br..."_

_"You will die a swift death."_

_"Wait, you're..."_

_"Do you have it?"_

_"For I have something you lack. Mercy."_

_"You traitor..."_

_"Congratulations..."_

_"The last thing you will ever see is the face of a boy staring down at a monster."_

_"Ezra don't do this!"_

_"My Apprentice."_

**Authors notes: I've done it! After leaving on a note where I didn't think I could add on, I added on! Though, I do apologize to those who expected something else and to the others who wanted this chapter out quicker. Inspiration comes in spirts my friends.**

**Anyway, after watching the three new episodes and then going back to something I saw in the clone wars this just seemed right. If you hate it I understand. You can unfavorite the story but this is where I wanted to go with it after dosing high on Star Wars cartoons. I hope you guys like it and stick with me to see what else I have in store for this story.**

**Also, if it's not too much trouble, please tell me if I screw up on any Star Wars lore. Unfortunately I don't have that much knowledge outside of the movies and some of the cartoons. Thank you.**

**READ IF YOU WANT MY OPINIONS ON THE THREE NEW EPISODES.**

**10: How does Ezra know what yoda sounds like? Other than that, meh.**

**11: five words and one letter. What a waist of Billy D.**

**12: better, but the twist was way too fucking obvious.**


	3. Chapter 3

Alternate paths chapter 3

Six hours later Hera awoke only to find Zeb and Sabine already awake.

"Did either of you sleep?" She asked. The two looked at the ground.

"We were just worried." Sabine answered. "I think I got a few hours though."

"Same." Zeb said.

"So what's the plan?" Sabine asked.

"I think at this point it's obvious. We find them." Sabine and Zeb nodded.

"Oh, I also did some research into Lothal." Sabine added. "It turns out at the old republic building there's a memorial called 'the new freedom memorial.' I think that's where Travis wants to meet us." Hera stroked her chin. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried." Hera answered. "If you could figure this out with a little bit of research, then the empire might be onto him as well." Zeb and Sabine's eyes widened.

"Then we have to warn him." Zeb said.

"What about Ezra and Kanan?" Sabine asked. Hera looked at the time. 7:15.

"If we work quickly we should be able to search the old clone base and make it to Lothal in time." Hera climbed up the ladder to the cockpit. "Get ready. We might be seeing some storm troopers." The two nodded and ran to their respected rooms.

Hera entered the cockpit and after setting the coordinates, jumped the ship into hyperspace. When they made to the old clone base, everyone exited the ship n a sprint. Even Chopper rolled out faster than usual.

"Kid!" Zeb yelled as he ran into the clone base. "Where are you?"

The four moved further inside they saw both bodies of those creatures, and a few stormtrooper's bodies as well.

"Looks like there was quite fight." Hera said.

"Yeah," Sabine answered, but judging by the casualties, it looks like the animals lost." As they walked further, they found a horrifying truth.

"The phantom... It's still here." Sabine said. Hera ran up to it to see if anyone was inside.

"No one's in here!" She yelled. Sabine and Zeb began to run around the rest of the complex yelling for Ezra and Kanan. Hera took a more stealthy approach and found the largest of the animals dead. She looked around the area further and found dried blood along with a small piece of fabric drenched in blood. Far to her left she noticed what appeared to be a small metal stick on the ground. Hera immediately ran for it and knew who's it was. She held it to her chest.

"Kanan..." She whispered. Zeb and Sabine eventually made it over Hera.

"We couldn't find any..." Sabine trailed off when she saw what Hera was holding.

"It's no use. They're gone." Hera said as she stood up.

"Then what's next?" Zeb asked. Her paused.

"We can still make it to Lothal by sunset." Hera answered. "We're not losing anyone else."

* * *

"Dev, DEV!" Ezra opened his eyes to see Dhara standing over him. Ezra rubbed his neck. He was trying to remember the dream he had had the previous night. All he could make out was random voices. He looked up at Dhara who was looking impatient.

"What's up?" He asked.

"The bounty hunters start at dawn. We need to get going." She reached out her hand to Ezra. "Come on. We can't waist time." Ezra nodded and took her hand. After he was up, he dusted off some dirt that had blown onto him in the middle of the night.

"You'll want to keep that on to blend in." Dhara said. Ezra's eyes widened.

"Right." He said as he rubbed the dirt all over. He then came upon the empire insignia on his shirt and got an idea. He tore it off and tossed it at Dhara.

"How's that?" He asked. Dhara smiled and put the fabric in her pocket.

"Come on. Those bounty hunters'll be out soon and we need water." Ezra nodded and followed her to the entrance. It was still dark. Dhara climbed out and balanced on the lone vine with ease but Ezra was still having trouble balancing.

"So, where are we going?" He asked as he wobbled.

"I found a small pond with fresh water not too far from here." Dhara answered. The two continued to climb through the undergrowth for another ten minutes before reaching the pond. While Ezra drank straight from the pond, Dhara took out a small pouch and set it inside the water. Ezra, his mouth full of water looked up and saw this he became confused.

"Where did you get that?" Ezra asked as she tied the string on the end of it.

"I made it." Dhara answered and put it in her pocket. "Don't worry. I'll share."

"How do you make it?" Ezra asked. Dhara looked up at the sky. The darkness of space still filled it, but now purple and some red was seeping through.

"I'll show you later." She replied. "Right now we need to head out."

"Why?" Ezra asked. Dhara pointed at the sky. Ezra stood confused but the realization hit.

"Let's go." She said. Ezra nodded and followed her up into the trees.

After about thirty minutes of climbing it was morning. Ezra and Dhara had slowed their pace down so that they could possibly hear the hunters coming.

"So what now?" Ezra asked.

"We keep moving." She answered.

"And then what?" Ezra asked. Dhara became frustrated.

"We do the same thing tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that."

"And that's it?" Ezra asked. Dhara didn't answer.

They continued to climb for a few hours not noticing anything. Ezra knew to keep his guard up though was still confused from not seeing any danger. The two decided to camp for lunch high enough to see the various paths through the forest.

"So what have you got to eat?" Ezra asked. Dhara pulled out a handful of variously colored berries and her water ouch from earlier. Ezra held out his hand and Dhara have him half. Ezra ate them slowly without complaint. After all, he had lived on very little before he joined up with the rebels so this wasn't much of a stretch.

"The berries are good." Ezra whispered trying to start a conversation. Dhara nodded but put her index finger up to her lips.

"Even the slightest noise could lead them right to us so don't talk." She said in an even lower whisper than Ezra's. Ezra nodded and laid back on the rock. He did his best to focus on the force, trying to feel anyone close. He did manage to find three walking there way.

"Dhara someone's coming!" He whisper yelled. Dhara nodded and ducked down. Surely enough, the two looked down and saw a Rodain, a human, and an Inthorian walking together each carrying a stick. Ezra sat up but Dhara pressed him back down.

"What is it?" Ezra asked.

"Shh." Dhara answered and pointed back down. "Just watch." Ezra reluctantly obliged and the two watched the group rest. In the middle of their short downtime, Dhara's eyes gre cold andd distant.

"They're here." She said in a low whisper. Ezra didn't understand but decided to focus on the force again. He did indeed feel three or four knew people coming. But these were different. They had an almost evil aura surrounding them.

What is this?

His question was answered by a single blaster shot shooting straight through the human. The Rodian hid behind the Ithorian who took on a defensive stance and began to roar louder than Ezra had ever heard. Ezra had known some Ithorians but he had never seen them do this. The Roar compelled the ground to crack, animals to either fly or run away, and even a few rocks to turn over. Nevertheless it failed to stop a single blaster shot to the chest, and just as quickly as it had begun, the roar died and all that was left was the Rodian. He made a run for it in one of the other paths. There was a faint sound of hovercrafts leaving the area as well as strange reptile signals.

Ezra stood in horror as he watched all of this occur. At first he had struggled against Dhara to go and help, but as the Intorian roars gave him hope and he stopped. When the Intorian died however, Ezra took the opportunity with Dhara not holding on as hard and elbowed her in the stomach. Dhara fell back and Ezra leaped through the trees desperate to find and help the Rodian.

Ezra easily caught up with the Rodian and jumped in front of his running path. The Rodian backed up in fear.

"Hey it's okay. I'm a friend." Ezra said, his hands raised. The Rodian lowered his guard slightly as he examined Ezra.

"I didn't think those bounty hunters would capture a teenager." The Rodian whispered.

"I guess their standards are a lot lower than I thought." Ezra answered. The Rodian chuckled. Ezra held out his hand.

"Come with me. I know a safe place." Ezra said. The Rodian reluctantly reached out and almost took it. Unfortunately for him however, a the laser from a from a sniper got to him first. Ezra's eyes widened in horror when the Rodian's body fell on top of him. He could faintly see Transdosians coming in close. Even hearing a hover craft of some sort. When all hope was lost however, Ezra saw a small bag drop from above and create dust cover.

"MOVE!" A familiar voice yelled. Ezra did so. He took the opportunity to move out from under the Rodian's body and then he just ran. He couldn't see half of where he was going but he didn't care. Even when he was out of the dust cloud he just ran through the dense forest.

_What are you doing? You should go back and fight!_

_But what can I do?_

_Use the force!_

_To block blaster shots?_

_You could've taken their guns!_

_But I couldn't see anything._

_That didn't stop you from leaving!_

_But I..._

_Coward! You let them die! All of them!_

_I didn't know... I didn't know..._

After a few hours, when he was sure no one was around, he collapsed next to a tree. Utterly exhausted, Ezra barely had enough energy to lean up against it. He lakes there staring through a hole in the trees at the planet he was orbiting. His breaths slowed and he was ready to pass out. As his eyes closed he saw the silhouette of someone familiar standing in front of him.

"What am I going to do with you?"

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Zeb asked Hera.

"Almost." She answered. "Though you'll have to take the Phantom down. Odds are theirs a blockade looking for us." Zeb and Sabine nodded.

"So it's just going to be us then?" Sabine asked.

"Yes." Hera said. "We should get there an hour before sunset. You'll have to find a way to get in the building by then."

"Got it." Zeb said and turned to Sabine. "Any ideas?" Sabine stroked her chin.

"We need a map of the building before we plan anything."

"That won't be easy." Hera said. "We don't have time."

"Then... Is there anything outside of it that could be connected to the building? Like a tunnel?" Hera pondered this.

"Well, I'm pretty sure the city has a sewer system. Maybe it runs under the building?" Hera speculated. Zeb scowled.

"You mean we'll have to walk through sewer water just to get to this guy?! We don't even know if he'll be there!" Zeb complained.

"Or swim." Sabine added. Zeb continued to scowl, even sticking out his tong.

"But if he is it'll be good for us to get him out of there as soon as possible." Hera said. "I'll leave it to you two." Chopper rolled up to Hera. "Actually, Chopper might be useful."

"How?" Sabine asked.

"Odds are there's a lock to the sewer entrance right? I mean, the empire probably wouldn't want gunk going everywhere. Maybe chopper could open a possible door." Hera answered. Chopper made a poised look as if to signify that he was amazing.

"Do we have to?" Zeb asked.

"We'll leave him at the entrance." Sabine said, patting Zeb on the back.

"Fine." Zeb said reluctantly. Hera smiled and turned back to the ships map.

"Good, we're just about there. Get ready you two."

The ship reached Lothal and there was surprisingly very few ships surrounding the planet. The blockade from the previous night had seemingly vanished though Hera wasn't convince.

"You guys ready?" She asked over the com link.

"Yep." Sabine answered.

"Okay, detaching in 3, 2, 1, now!" The Phantom detached and flew down to the planet with ease. Sabine landed the three in the plains and they eventually made it to the city. After walking around a bit, they eventually found the old republic building and saw that a ship had landed on one of the old landing platforms. As an unfortunate bonus, storm troopers surrounded the streets below it.

"You sure this guy is that clever?" Zeb asked. Sabine shrugged her shoulders.

"He's a good motivational speaker." She countered.

After searching for a few minutes, the three found a large opening being guarded by a single black and white droid. Chopper moved up to the droid and electrocuted it before it even had time to process what was going on. Sabine and Zeb stood in shock. Chopper went on to open the entrance. Afterwards, he motioned them to walk in. Zeb grinned.

"This is new." Zeb said.

"Well, maybe Chopper is taking things seriously for once." Sabine answered. Chopper made a noise and with his gestures it looked like he was asking, "what?" Sabine just chuckled and looked inside.

"Looks like it's empty." She said. Zeb looked down and then plugged his nose.

"It still smells though." He said. Sabine smiled and jumped inside the hole. Zeb waved at Chopper and followed. Chopper then proceeded to close the entrance.

It took Sabine and Zeb a while, but they found a yellow ladder and when they climbed up, it lead right to the landing platform where the ship was. There were two droids, but they didn't seem much of a threat. Just as they were going to walk in, Sabine stopped.

"Take an upper root in case things go south." She said pointing up. Zeb nodded and climbed up. Sabine walked past the droids and entered the room. There were two more protocol droids on each side of one man, Gall Travis. He smiled when he saw Sabine walk into the room.

"I'm glad you could make it." He said. Sabine walked right up to him.

"Senator you're in-" the senator raised his hand.

"I am well aware that the empire probably caught onto this one quicker than my other plans. But I felt That I needed to get this information to you as soon as possible and I didn't know how to get ahold of you. So I had to pull one of these stunts." Sabine raised an eyebrow.

"Information on what?" Sabine asked. Travis nodded and his face turned serious.

"One of my spies notified me that the Inquisitor captured a Jedi and his padawan." Sabine gasped and looked to the ground. Travis' face was filled with sadness. "I can see now that the rumors were true. They were part of your team. You have my condolences."

"Thank you." Sabine said. Before either could say anything else, two blaster shots went off, destroying both of the protocol droids. After that, storm troopers filled the room. One dressed in gray leading the way. It was Kallus. Travis gritted his teeth.

"Ah so we've finally caught you Travis." Kallus said smugly. "I must admit, your clue this time was far too obvious. "

"So the only reason you found me was because I had to rush out a meeting time to these freedom fighters? Figures. You could never find out my normal riddles." Travis returned with a grin.

"That may be the case, but I hardly think that matters now that you along with the deserter are going to be taken into custody." Kallus answered smugly. Travis gritted his teeth and leaned over to Sabine.

"Any ideas?" He asked.

"You don't have any?" Sabine asked.

"Well I thought that I needed to get this information to you as soon as possible. An escape route in case of an ambush wasn't the first thing on my list." Sabine looked up at the ceiling. Zeb was ready.

"Don't worry senator. We got this."

"We?"

Just then, Zeb threw down half a dozen smoke pellets. As the smoke filled the room, Sabine managed to navigate the senator out of there with Zeb following from behind. The three made it to the landing platform but Hera hadn't arrived yet.

"Amazing." The senator said with a smile as he coughed. "Though no matter how effective they are, I still despise smoke pellets." Sabine and Zeb chuckled.

"We'll look at you three." Kallus said as he ran out of the smoke, pointing his rifle at them. Sabine pulled out her blasters and Zeb took aim. "All together in one place. I promise if you come with us now, you'll get to see your dear Jedi."

"Kanan?" Sabine asked. "Where is he?!" She continued sternly. Kallus only smiled. Sabine's anger began to boil.

"Zeb," Sabine started. Zeb looked at her nervously. "Take care of the senator." Sabine moved to charge at Kallus, but Zeb ran up behind her and shocked the man knocking him out. Sabine looked at him with disgust. Zeb kept a straight face and walked to the sewer entrance.

"Let's go." He said.

"We can't just-" One of the storm troopers had exited the smoke filled room and fired a blast near Sabine.

"We don't have time for this now let's go!" Zeb yelled. Sabine grabbed one of her guns and blasted the storm trooper. The two along with the senator entered the sewer shortly there after. The senator said nothing and managed to keep up with the two rather wellall things considered. Eventually they made it back to Chopper and then the Phantom. All the while everyone remained silent until they reached Hera.

When they reached the ghost, Zeb and Sabine entered Zeb's room right away while chopper stuck with the senator. Hera didn't understand but tried to at least make the senator feel comfortable and sat him down on the couch.

"It's a pleasure to get the chance to meet you senator." Hera said. The senator smiled.

"The pleasure is all mine." Travis answered. "After all, you're the one actually fighting the empire. All I can do is make speeches and organize others. Regrettably, I'm far too old to actually fight."

"While you may not be fit, what you represent to the rebel cause is worth so much." Hera answered. Travis smiled, but a second later his face turned serious.

"The reason I wished to contact you was about the Jedi and Padawan you have on your ship. According to my intel they were captured." Hera's eyes widened.

"Any word on where they are?" Hera asked. Travis shook his head.

"It stands to reason that the Jedi will be sent to Mustafar." Travis said. Hera sunk her face into her hands. "As for the boy, I cannot be sure. The padawan usually goes missing when the Jedi is sent to Mustafar."

"You're saying he might be-"

"No. I don't think the child is dead." Travis answered sternly. "I believe that he is alive along with other padawan. There's a good chance the empire might want to turn him to the dark side."

"What?"

"They're still young and are easy to be impressioned on by their surroundings. Odds are they gave him a choice. Join the empire or die." The room went silent.

"So that's it then." Hera whispered. Travis looked at her sympathetically.

"If I may," he started, "I do wish to do more than give speeches. However I see that you are in need of some help thanks to others in your group being missing at the moment. May I help out with your group? I may be old but I can still pilot a ship." Hera smiled.

"I'll have to check with my commanding officer. Thank you for the offer though. I'll go and prepare a room for you Since you'll at least be staying with us for the night." Hera answered and stood up.

"Take all the time you need." Travis answered.

* * *

"I could've taken him!" Sabine yelled.

"We had more important things to do!" Zeb yelled I'm return.

"More important than finding where Kanan is?!" Sabine asked.

"We have to be alive/not in the empire's prison for that information to mean anything!" Zeb responded. Sabine backed up and sat down on Zeb's bed. She dug her face into her hands. The energy in the room cooled down and Zeb leaned against the wall.

"What are we going to do?" Sabine asked.

"We're going to find them." Zeb answered.

* * *

"Inquisitor." Kallus radioed in.

"Yes?"

"They escaped with the senator." Kallus answered.

"Good. Now the fun can begin." The Inquisitor answered. He looked up at Kanan. The two were in a prison cell with Kanan strapped to a thin slab of cold metal. His clothes were no longer the same for now he was a prison uniform identical to the one they found master Luminara in even covering his head. Kanan was glared at the Inquisitor.

"What did you do?" Kanan asked.

"I did nothing. It was Agent Kallus who insured my victory." The Inquisitor answered and turned to the door. "I think I'll leave you with that. Although, if you would simply tell me the location of a rebel base, then maybe I'd tell you more."

"I already told you I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kanan yelled. The Inquisitor sighed.

"If you won't talk, then your fate after your trial will most likely be Mustafar."

"Are you not listening?!" Kanan yelled. "Besides, even if I did know about other rebels, what makes you think I'd tell you?!"

"I see that even the threat of Mustafar won't faze you. Very well then. I. Will let you think it over for the rest of the day. However come tomorrow and I find you're still being stubborn, then I'll have no choice but to harm your friends." Kanan chuckled.

"And how are you suppose to do that?" The Inquisitor smiled.

"I'll show you tomorrow if you fail to give me the information you know." Kanan's face turned to confusion. The Inquisitor turned around and opened the door.

"What do you mean?" Kanan asked. The Inquisitor didn't answer and walked outside the cell. Kanan began to panic. "IF YOU HURT THEM I SWEAR-" the door closed cutting Kanan off. The Inquisitor smiled.

_Soon Jedi, you will break. And the boy, ha. He will see the world as I do. And when that happens, with just one more force user on our side, we will rule this galaxy including the outer rim with an iron fist._

_Ezra Bridger, you will know true pain by the time you leave that accursed moon._

**Authors notes: done! And right when the season finale is about to air! Sorry it took so long. Inspiration and such. Anyway, onto the chapter. Well, I've got a pretty clear way on where I want it to go from here. So hopefully the next one will be out sooner. See you guys next time. :)**

**Episode thoughts.**

**Call to action: FUCKING AMAZING!**

**Rebels resolve: good set up, though still confused on why Mustafar of all places is where Jedi are sent to quote, 'die.' Oh well.**

**Trailers for the finale: Is Ashoka fulcrum? More importantly, WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN TO EZRA?!**


	4. Chapter 4

Alternate chapter 4

_"Mommy?"_

_"Ezra, your father and I are going to be busy tonight so we can't read you a story."_

_"But mommy!"_

_"No buts. We all have to make sacrifices Ezra. This is ours."_

_"Hmph. What are you guys doing anyway? Zibo doesn't think it's safe."_

_"Well Zibo is right. It isn't safe. But we have to do it."_

_"Why?"_

_"You'll understand when you're older. Goodnight Ezra."_

* * *

"You're just like him."

Ezra slowly opened his eyes to see he was back inside the place he was the night before. His legs were sore and he had a terrible headache. When his eyes focused, he saw that he was back in that hiding spot with Dhara. It appeared to be night, and she was poking a stick in the fire.

"What happened?" Ezra asked. Dhara looked up and saw Ezra was awake. Rather than answer, she stood up and after walking over to him, slapped him across the face.

"Try anything like that again and next time I won't hesitate to leave you out there on your own." Dhara commanded. Ezra rubbed the side of his face, staring Dhara in the eye.

"I was trying to help them!" Ezra yelled.

"And I told you not to!" Dhara yelled.

"Why not?!"

"Because they were already gone!"

"How do you know?"

"They took the path." Dhara answered regaining control over her anger. "And one who is stupid enough to walk on the ground to travel is as good as dead. Also..." Dhara trailed off.

"Also what?" Ezra asked. Dhara brushed it off.

"You wouldn't understand." She answered and walked back to her spot near the fire. "You'd probably think I was crazy." Ezra raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm in no position to run." Ezra answered. "Plus, I've seen some pretty weird stuff. So go for it, I won't care." Dhara looked back at him.

"Na. It was stupid to bring it up." She said trying to drop the topic. "My point is that you risked your life for a pointless cause. Most people who do that don't last after the first day. You were lucky." Ezra rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. If I see people in danger then I'm going to help them. I can't just sit by and watch them die."

"What you think I like sitting back and watching people get shot day in and day out?"

"Then why don't you do anything?" Ezra asked.

"I already told you!" Dhara yelled. Ezra shook his head.

"There's no way someone like you wouldn't help because they were walking on the road. Spill it." Dhara looked to the ground.

"Maybe, I already tried okay?"

"What?" Ezra asked. Dhara didn't move.

"And maybe, maybe no one trusted me besides the other cadets. Maybe, maybe I tried to explain that the empire dropped me off but it never worked and they always thought I was someone the empire sent to try to kill them thanks to these stupid uniforms. Either that, or they said that they didn't want a teenager slowing them down."

"But I-"

"The only reason that Rodian trusted you was because he was about to die. If you had gone down to their entire group, I bet that Ithorian wouldn't have hesitated to send you flying." There was silence between the two for a while. Ezra couldn't think of anything new to say. All he had left to do was validate his own belief.

"I'm sorry. I know you've been through a lot but I can't let them die without knowing that I did everything within my power to try to save them. That's not me. Not anymore." Ezra answered. Dhara walked back over and grabbed Ezra by his collar and forced him to step just outside of the entrance.

"I'm done with this." She started. "If you want to risk your life for something that you can't prevent then fine. But I won't be there the next time you need help. You'll be on your own. I'm not going to get dragged into that again." Ezra's eyes widened but turned to fearful understanding as he nodded.

"I understand. If this is how you are then I am sorry but I can't stand by and watch people die. I wouldn't be able to face my friends again if I did." Ezra answered. Dhara's anger boiled and she threw a small pouch like the one before at Ezra. Ezra caught it and Dhara proceeded to stare him down.

"Ride that high horse for all I care. In the end it'll only make your life worse when you have to do something terrible to protect yourself." Dhara answered. Ezra shook his head and walked out of Dhara's hideout.

_This place won't break me. I won't fall._

* * *

"He's what?" Sabine and Zeb asked Hera. Hera herself was in an odd position as she was holding a box full of Kanan's extra clothes since besides his lightsaber and the device that held the message from Obiwan, that was all he had.

"Senator Travis may be staying with us for a while." She answered.

"But why are you clearing out Kanan's room?" Zeb asked.

"He's got to sleep somewhere. And I don't think either of you would want to bunk with him." Hera answered. Zeb and Sabine looked at each other. Sabine took a deep breath.

"He can have my room. I'll bunk with Zeb." Hera's eyes widened and she turned to Zeb.

"And you're okay with this?" Hera asked. Zeb nodded.

"I don't care. All I want is to make sure Kanan has a room when we get him back." Hera smiled.

"Alright. I'll-" before she could answer, chopper came speeding into Hera and knocking her over.

"Jeez chopper. What was that for?" Hera said as she recovered and picked up the now spilled box. Chopper began to beep widely and Hera stopped picking up the clothes. She turned to Sabine.

"Could you please pick these up for me? I have something I need to take care of." Sabine stood in confusion but nodded and picked up Kanan's stuff with help from Zeb and Hera ran off.

"What's her deal?" Sabine asked. Zeb shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's just get this back to Kanan's room." Sabine reluctantly nodded.

* * *

Hera walked quickly into the cockpit and turned on the hollow gram system. A cloaked figure appeared before her.

"Fulcrum." Hera said.

"Hera." Fulcrum responded. "There's a matter I need to discuss with you."

"Same with me. May I go first?" Hera asked. Fulcrum nodded and Hera took a deep breath.

"Kanan and our newest member Ezra Bridger have been captured." She started. Fulcrum nodded.

"We recently received intel that a Jedi and his padawan was captured. The empire is expected to make the Jedi's capture public at some point tonight. Hera, we don't have the manpower to rescue him yet. But once the broadcast goes out, we should be able to track where they are. Then we can mount an offensive to get them back."

"You'd do that for them?" Hera asked. Fulcrum nodded.

"I can't sit by and watch another jedi die. There's also the matter of Bridger."

"What about him?" Hera asked. Fulcrum took a deep breath.

"When we were looking in the Rodain that you dropped off's memory bank I found their location." Hera nodded.

"Yes. He told me where they were. I was going to tell Ezra when he got back." Fulcrum shook her head.

"Is that all he told you?" Fulcrum asked. Hera nodded.

"I don't see the problem. Although..." Hera remembered how worked up Zibo was over the whole thing. He seemed frightened at the thought of even telling her everything besides their location.

_"If you're serious about saving them, then you'll find out once you reach the planet."_

_What did he mean by that?_

"You only learned their location." Fulcrum said. Hera stood in confusion.

"They're on Tatooine. What seems to be the problem?" Fulcrum sighed.

"What Zibo didn't tell you is that they were sold into slavery." Hera gasped.

"I see. So his parents..."

"May not even be alive at this point. They were sold eight years ago. There's not even a current record to who could be their master at this point. I'm sorry Hera." Hera took a deep breath.

"Once we get Kanan and Ezra back, we'll deal with his parents. Until then, is there anything you need of us?" Fulcrum shook her head.

"Rest for now. We'll hopefully have Kanan's location by tomorrow. Until then you have some time to kill."

"Okay. Thank you Fulcrum." Hera moved to turn off the hollow gram.

"No. Thank you Hera, for trusting me." Hera smiled.

"Goodbye friend."

* * *

Kanan was very close to entering panic mode. With everything that had happened so far and this new threat from the Inquisitor, he had no idea what to do. All he did do was try to find Ezra. But there was no sign of him on the ship, or at the very least, Kanan couldn't feel him. Just as he was going to take a break, Agent Kallus came in along with a group of storm troopers and a single droid. Regrettably, the door behind them closed.

Kanan prepared himself for more torture but instead felt what had kept him bound to that slab of metal unhook. He fell forward and almost face first onto the ground but stopped himself with his hands. He moved to stand up, but the storm troopers around him held their blasters to his face and Kanan got the picture. He stayed kneeled with his hands over his head and waited for the right time to strike.

"Citizens of this glorious empire, I present you with one of the last Jedi in existence, Kanan Jarrus." Kallus proclaimed. Kanan's eyes widened as he looked at the small droid and realized what was happened.

"Regrettably this Jedi has not tried to rewrite the mistakes of those who came before and caused much trouble on the helpless planet of Lothal. Where he, and a group of others have caused much trouble to this empire's citizens."

_Helpless to your tyranny._

"However we prevailed and now I have the chance to punish this Jedi for all he has done wrong. But, I will hold out hope that he is a better man than that and instead ask a simple question. If he answers, then surely the court will be lighter with his sentencing, as he would be noting the error in his ways." Kallus bent down to Kanan and looked him in the eye.

"Where is Ezra Bridger?" Kallus whispered low enough so that the droid couldn't hear his voice. Kanan's eyes widened in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Kanan said in a normal voice. Kallus smiled, and shook his head. He stood up and pulled out a small circle. He pressed a button showing a hologram of Ezra.

"This is Dev Morgan. He use to be one of our cadets but this Jedi's friends kidnapped him during an attempt to sabotage our cadet program here on Lothal. They failed, however he, along with another cadet were seen being forced into a speeder. I have video footage to prove it." Kallus pressed another button and a video began to play on the circle. In it, it showed what appeared to be Ezra and the boy that they had rescued be forced into a speeder at gunpoint by none other than Kanan. Kanan knew this never happened and theorized that the empire made this purely to make him look bad.

"Thankfully we have found the other but Dev Morgan is still missing." Kallus continued and turned back to Kanan. "So I ask again, Where is Dev Morgan?"

_What is the point of this? He knows I can't answer. Unless..._

Kanan realized it. The horrible truth. Kallus knew that Kanan didn't know. But the rest of the empire didn't. To them, it looked like a kidnapper denying that he committed the crime that was plainly put in front of everyone who was watching. The only reason he called Ezra 'Ezra' when it was just the two of them was so Kanan could figure out his plan and realize there was nothing he could do to stop it. He knew what had happened to Ezra and didn't care at all what really happened to him. They were using Ezra and himself as a tool to further the Empire's agenda. Kanan's anger boiled at this realization. He couldn't control himself. With a yell he force pushed everyone against the walls. Even the droid. He then proceeded to force choke Kallus.

"M- Merc..." Kallus choked. Kanan didn't care what he was trying to say. Kallus was going to pay. Kanan brought him closer.

"Where is he?" Kanan asked. Kallus didn't answer. Instead, he smiled. Kanan didn't understand why until it was too late. One of the storm troopers behind him fired his blaster. Kanan and Kallus fell to the ground. Kallus, rubbing his throat, looked down at Kanan with a smile. Kanan had only been stunned but even then the Jedi was helpless.

"Thank you trooper." Kallus said to the trooper who shot. "You should be rewarded."

"Just doing my job sir." The trooper responded. The droid at this point had gotten back up and even on the ground recorded everything that had happened. Kallus turned to the droid when it came close and motioned the trooper who shot Kanan to come over. Kallus placed his arm over the trooper's solider.

"You see? These are the true heroes. Those who volunteer or become drafted into our great army. They put a stop to criminals like this Jedi." Kallus said as he glared at the immobile Kanan and removed himself from the trooper.

"We must harden ourselves, and draw out all of these criminals. It is the only way to put a stop to their tyranny. I'm sorry if this broadcast was a bit violent. I knew the risks but I thought it would be key to show all of you how ruthless the jedi are. Please be safe out there. That is all." The droid was turned off, and a passed out Kanan was placed back onto his slab of metal.

* * *

_Caleb, what have you done?_

_Master?_

_You know better._

_Master you're alive!_

_Why did you choke that man?_

_I... He... I had no-_

_There's always a choice my padawan. You're better than that._

_A lot has changed master._

_That doesn't matter. You need to remember your training Caleb. Otherwise you'll lose yourself._

_I know master. It's just..._

_You care about this boy I understand. But still, you can't let them bate you like that._

_I'm not the same person that left you that day._

_This new world hardened your spirit yes. And for a long time you didn't acknowledge the force. But that has changed. If you truly wish to find this boy, then you'll have to wait for the right moment._

_But how can I do that master? Ezra's in danger! I need to find him!_

_Just trust in the force. It will guide you. If you do not, then you will leave yourself open to the dark side. Please Caleb. Don't lose yourself._

_I'll try master._

_Do or do not. There is no try._

_Now you're just quoting master Yoda._

_His wisdom is useful. You won't lose yourself. You have to promise me that._

_I promise. I won't lose myself master._

_Good. So long my padawan._

_Wait! Don't leave me please! We never finished training!_

_You have grown into a fine man Caleb. And I will always be with you so long as you trust in the force._

_Then I will. I have to._

_Goodbye my student._

_Goodbye master..._

* * *

Everyone on the ghost stood in silence. Even though the video raised all sorts of questions, Travis kept his mouth shut. He knew better than to trouble the crew of the ship he had just become apart of with questions after something like this. Still, he wondered how all of them were feeling. It was only a few minutes ago that he was having a laugh with the Lasat and Mandalorian girl when they played a game of sabacc and defeated both of them winning a few bullets from each since they claimed that they were broke. They were having fun until Hera came out of the cockpit and said that the empire was going to announce Kanan's capture. With the hollownet turned on the never ending silence began.

The silence continued as everyone went to their respected rooms. Hera didn't even speak until Travis was in his room.

"I hope you like this." Hera started. "I've cleared everything up with Fulcrum. You can stay with us for now. I'll leave you alone." Travis grabbed her shoulder and she turned around.

"Thank you so much for going to all this trouble. I promise I won't let you down. We will rescue your friend and find the boy." Hera smiled.

"No. Thank you for wanting to help us." Hera answered. "Have a good night." She said as she left.

"You too." Travis answered as the door closed. Travis' smile disappeared. He pulled a small circle out of his pocket and pressed a button activating communication via hollowgram. Agent Kallus was the one who appeared to him as the hollowgram.

"Infiltration complete." Travis said. "It appears they don't suspect a thing."

"Keep your guard up. You never know with these mongrels."

"Alright."

"What was their reaction?"

"Speechless." Travis answered. Kallus smiled.

"It appears my plan is working perfectly. Tell them tomorrow that you've received word that the ship carrying Kanan is heading to Corasaunt for his trial. That should put them right where we want them."

"There's been something I've been wondering." Travis said. "What actually happened to the boy?" Kallus' smile disappeared.

"The Inquisitor took him into custody. I don't know anything else." Travis nodded. and stroked his chin with his free hand.

"I see. And his name. What was it really?" Kallus raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you wish to know?" He asked. Travis shrugged his shoulders.

"The boy looked familiar. Perhaps we met?" Kallus nodded.

"Your memory is astounding old man." Kallus said. "The boy's name is Ezra Bridger." Travis' eyes widened.

"Now it makes sense. Thank you for indulging me. That is all. Signing off." Travis turned off the communicator.

"Bridger huh? Well, that brings back memories doesn't it?"

* * *

**Author's notes: I thought that I'd prove my useless knowledge of rebels by calling Kanan by his real name in his dream. Hopefully no one was too confused. Also Plot points keep popping up! One's that I'm sure no one saw coming. I'll just spend my time ranting about the season finale.**

**Fire across the galaxy: YOU KILLED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER! Now the series will become about Asoka and Vader! Although to be fair, I would much prefer that since I completely despise Ezra at this point and am now questioning what Kanan's IQ is because I mean, how do you think he's dead?! Well, at the very least from Kanan's expression and actions after the fact it appeared that he thought Ezra was dead. Hera's motivations are questionable at best, and completely stupid at worst. Sabine hasn't had much development either. The only person I legitimately like from the ghost is Zeb at this point since he's the most consistent in terms of characterization and amount of smarts he possesses. It was engaging at the very least and up until Ezra's fake out and the Inqusitor's death, I really enjoyed it.**

**On a side note, Who else wan't Vader to call Asoka 'snips' in all of his James Earl Jones glory?**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kanan slept as soundly as someone could after being literally knocked out. Unfortunately for him, the Inquisitor had other plans.

"Listen to me Inquisitor." Kallus said as the two stood outside of Kanan's cell. "You can't injure him too much. We need him to be in moving condition by the time we reach Corasuant. The Inqusitor shook his head.

"You see agent Kallus, I have personal orders from my master to use whatever means I deem necessary to get a confession out of him. Besides, I'm certain that even the emperor himself would prefer this Jedi on his knees." Kallus gritted his teeth.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. Just don't drag me down with you." Agent Kallus walked away.

"Glad you see things my way." The Inquisitor answered with a smile and turned to the door. "Now, I believe it is time for my fun to begin."

* * *

Ezra decided to make camp above the pond that Dhara had shown him earlier since he was afraid of what kind of animals would be active at night. Thanks to the abundance of vines, it was easy for him to tie himself to the tree branch as a safety net in the event of him tossing and turning at night. When he was ready, Ezra leaned back, and did his best to fall asleep.

* * *

Ezra found himself in a black void and in his normal clothes. As he stood in the strange emptiness, screams began to echo the area. He couldn't tell who it was, but ran to the general area of where it was coming from. Eventually, he happened upon a small oval that faded out from the darkness. There was only one issue. It was Kanan.

Kanan was locked to a slab of metal in what appeared to be an imperial cell and dressed in what Ezra assumed was a prison uniform as it reminded him of master Luminara with the Inquisitor facing him. He scream and thrash violently as he was continuously electrocuted. Ezra stumbled back. He looked to the other side of the oval and saw the Inquisitor looking on with delight.

"No! Stop this!" Ezra yelled. Nothing ceased.

_They can't hear me._

"So?! I can't sit by and watch Kanan get hurt!"

_But that's what I'm doing._

"Only because I can't do anything else!"

_Isn't that how Dhara was?_

"No! She chose to stand by. I'd stand in and help Kanan if I could."

_What could I do?_

"Use the force of course!"

_To do what?_

"To... To..."

_What would I do?_

"To... To..."

_What would I do?!_

"To push him back!"

_That won't work. It takes more to put down the Inquisitor._

"I'd take his lightsaber!"

_And then what?_

"Force him to let Kanan go!"

_And then what?_

"And then..."

_How would I convince him? He'd just use the force to take it out of my hands again._

"Then I'd have to hurt him. As a warning for what would come next."

_What would come next?_

Um...

_What would come next?_

"I would... I would..."

_There's only one answer._

"No... I can't... But then... he'd kill me for sure..."

_So there's only one option._

"No... I can't... It's not what..."

_What Kanan would want?_

"Yes. He'd be ashamed if I did that out of rage."

_But what if it'd be the only thing that saves us?_

"I can't let history repeat itself!"

_Then what would you do?_

"I'd... I'd..."

Ezra was cut off by Kanan's screams coming to a halt. Ezra looked back to the oval.

"This will only become worse." The Inqusitor stated as Kanan caught his breath.

"I told you, I don't know anything. But even if I did I'd-" Kanan was cut off when the Inqusitor moved his hand again, only this time, he undid Kanan's restraints. Kanan immediately fell forward onto the Inqusitor. The Inqusitor smiled and proceeded to punch Kanan's stomach. The Inqusitor let him fall to the ground, where Kanan proceeded to cough blood onto the Inqusitor's shoe.

"Now look at what you've done." Ezra looked up and saw Kanan laying before the Inquisitor coughing more blood onto the ground. When Kanan tried to look the Inquisitor in the eye, the Inquisitor kicked him against the wall.

"No..." Ezra whispered.

"You will never look me in the eye ever again Jedi scum." The Inquisitor said as Kanan sat himself up against the wall. The beating continued over and over. Punching Kanan's wounds to the point of blood beginning to bleed from his prison uniform.

"I... I can't just sit here! Kanan! KANAN!" Ezra yelled.

_He can't here me._

"KANAN! KANAN!"

_He won't hear me._

"KANAN!"

_Why am I doing this?_

"Kanan!

It's futile.

"Kanan."

_Why am I trying?_

"Kanan please..."

_I can't do anything._

"Don't leave me."

_All I can do is watch..._

"I... I don't want this... I don't want any of this!"

_So what will I do?_

"I'll... I'll..."

Ezra looked back to Kanan. The Inquisitor had stopped and backed away from Kanan. Kanan's eyes barren. Almost as if he were asleep.

_I... I can't._

_Pathetic._

* * *

The Inqusitor, satisfied, crouched down to the beaten Jedi.

"I'm going to ask you one more time," the Inqusitor started, "who is Fulcrum?" Kanan just looked straight ahead, not having the energy to move.

"I... Don't know..." Kanan whispered. The Inqusitor stood up in disgust and turned to the door.

"Don't... Hurt him... Please..." Kanan pleaded. The Inqusitor smiled and turned around to look down upon the Jedi.

"Oh but I'm afraid I can't do that. I told you the consequences for your lack of cooperation. Rest assured it was nothing physical." Kanan's barren eyes widened and a twinge of color came back.

"What do you mean?" He asked with the last of his strength. The Inquisitor walked to the door. "What... did you..."

"You should understand how the force works. If he didn't see my first session with you, then this one should've done the trick." Kanan's eyes widened at the horrible realization. The Inquisitor opened the door and left Kanan horror ridden and unchained since he believed that those injuries would leave him out of commission for a while. Besides, this is what it takes to break anyone's will. The inability to help those you care about. The Inqusitor chuckled.

"I'll have to check on the Bridger boy and see how it has effected him."

* * *

Ezra woke up in a cold sweat. His eyes filled with fear and horror. He panted wildly as he untied the vines that felt as though they were choking him, only to be met with the thud of the ground when he lost his balance. Ezra scrambled for the pond and splashed the cold water in his face over and over again. After he filled up the pouch that Dhara had given him, he leaned back against a tree and looked up at the still starry sky.

"It... It was just a dream. Yeah that's it..." Ezra tried to convince himself. Something didn't feel right about that statement. He himself didn't truly believe it. He then proceeded to slap his own face.

"Snap out of it! You can't focus on stupid nightmares." Ezra said to himself.

I've got to come up with a plan. The Inquisitor said that I'd need the kyber crystal to get off of this moon, but if I get it before the time limit, there's only one thing I can do with it that would be even remotely useful. Lightsaber time.

Ezra grinned.

I think I need to go to the beach.

Ezra climbed his way through the forest of vines since while taking the path would be desirable, as painful as it was for him to admit it, it's probably safer to be above everything. When he got to the beach, the wreckage wasn't hard to miss. He smiled and ran over. He dug through the sand trying to find any useful, but everything was rusted. He eventually found a rusted hatch and failed multiple times at opening it. Ezra stood up and kicked the sand.

"Come on!" He yelled as he kicked the bottom of the hatch. He winced as the pain came. Ezra then took a deep breath and extended his hand out to the hatch.

I just want to open this. Please work.

Ezra focused the force on the hatch. He gathered most of his strength up in one pull and the hatch popped off. His eyes lit up as he went to see what he earned. Regrettably, all that he found was sand. While some wreckage was able to be taken, the whole thing was rusted and utterly useless. The only thing he saw that would be semi useful was a hollow tube. He put it in his pocket and fell back onto the sand in defeat.

All that work for nothing.

After a few minutes, he began to get a strange feeling. Ezra decided to meditate on it and felt while not evil, a presence near him. It was familiar, but he couldn't tell who. So he sat up and turned to the forest.

"Hello?" He asked. "Is someone out there?" Ezra focused on the force and saw whoever was watching him was up in the trees. He ran over and before climbed up to where he was sure someone was watching him. The person didn't move. He waited for Ezra to come to him. Ezra didn't understand why until he realized just who this person was.

"Jai?" Ezra asked the boy sitting in front of him. True it took Ezra a few seconds to figure out just who he was, what with his cadet uniform being nearly entirely covered in dirt and every place where skin could be had a light coat of dirt. His clothes were intact for the most part and even his boots appeared to be in working condition.

Jai was in a state of confusion.

"What are you doing here Dev?"

"What do you mean what I'm doing here what are you doing here?! I thought you went into hiding." Ezra asked in return.

"Hey I asked first." Jai said. Ezra sighed.

"Remember the Inqusitor?" Ezra asked. Jai nodded. "Well he caught me. Now spill it. How did the empire find you?" Jai spit in disgust.

"We got a call from a man named Gal Travis." He started. "He said that he could get us off of Lothal. But when my mother and I went to meet up with him, he wasn't there. Instead, about fifteen storm troopers and agent Kallus. We got separated and then that guy you called, 'the Inquisitor.' dropped me off here telling me I needed to find a Kyber crystal. That was about ten days ago." Ezra looked at Jai like he was lying.

"Travis wouldn't set you up. Look at all the good he's done!" Ezra answered. Jai rolled his eyes.

"Well, even if he didn't tip them off, I find it suspicious that he didn't even warn me and my mother about the troopers."

"Maybe he didn't have the time."

"Still. He sent us into a trap and probably know about it." Ezra, not wanting to lose a friend over this, decided to change the subject.

"Do you know where the crystal is?" Ezra asked. Jai shook his head.

"John won't tell me anything. He keeps saying that it's best if we don't try again. Whatever that means." Jai looked to the sky. Sunrise was beginning. He grabbed Ezra's arm.

"We can talk more later right now we need to hide." Ezra nodded and followed Jai around for most of the day. They didn't say a word to each other as they would occasionally pass Transdosians walking around on the ground. Each time Ezra focused on their guns.

_Those parts... Well, they'd be a lot better than the rusted junk on the beach. The only question is, how do I get one?_

"Hey Jai?" Ezra asked. Jai placed his index finger over his lips. Ezra nodded and waited for the right time.

Near the end, when sunset seemed to be occurring, the two took a break on top of a rock.

"So Jai," Ezra whispered. "Why don't you have any guns? Is it that hard to steal them?" Jai nodded.

"And even if we do steal them, they're usually deactivated before we can try to use them. Usually when we get one its just for spare parts."

"Great!" Ezra whisper yelled. "So all I have to do is get ahold of one of those guns and I can make one."

"SH!" Jai said. "Make what?" Ezra grinned.

"A lightsaber."

"A lightsaber? You mean what the Jedi use?" Jai asked. Ezra nodded and pointed at the Trandosian's gun.

"I heard that those Kyber Crystals power lightsabers. If that's the case, then all we have to do is make one and we have the best weapon in existence!" With that raise in voice, a blast was fired, followed with a scream in horror.

* * *

Hera slept as soundly as you'd expect from someone who saw what she saw last night. So when she was laying in her bed, she was relieved that she had something to do when chopper came into the room. In his various beeps he told Hera that Fulcrum wanted to talk again. As quietly as she could, she walked up to the cockpit and answered fulcrum.

"I'm sorry to wake you up so early." Fulcrum said. Hera shook her head.

"I couldn't get much sleep after last night." Fulcrum nodded.

"Now that we have Kanan's location, all that's left is to do is gather enough ships for an offensive."

"How long will that take?" Hera asked.

"About a week since we need volunteers not to mention a strategy to rescue him."

"Okay. We'll stock up on weapons and ammunition in the meantime. Thank you so much fulcrum." Fulcrum smiled.

"Your welcome. I have to go. May the force be with you." Fulcrum turned off the communicator. Hera smiled and was almost crying.

The door to the cockpit opened without warning. Hera reached for her blaster and pointed it at none other than Travis. Both of his hands quickly raised as he tried to crack a smile.

"Do excuse me." He said with an uneasy chuckle. "I was looking for you because I needed to tell you something." Hera hesitantly holstered her blaster and crossed her arms.

"What did you hear?" She asked sternly. Travis looked to the ground.

"I heard a strange voice. I'm assuming it was disguised somehow?" Hera nodded slightly. Travis turned serious. "You're going to rescue you're Jedi friend aren't you?" Hera went on the defensive.

"Is there an issue?" She asked. Travis shook his head.

"That isn't the problem at all."

"Then what is the problem?" Hera asked sternly. Travis pulled a circular device out of his pocket. When he pressed a button, a list of orders appeared as a hologram. Hera gasped.

"They're sending him to Corrasuant in three days."

* * *

"JAI!" Ezra yelled as Jai fell off of the rock and onto the ground below where Trandosian hunters were waiting.

"It took you long enough." One said into a communicator and looked to his left. Ezra turned his confused eyes to the trees. He indeed felt a presence. Ezra jumped down to try to protect Jai.

"GET BACK!" He yelled and outstretched his hand at the Transdosians.

"Oh what are you going to do?" Another asked. The radio came in.

"Be careful." The hunter said jokingly. "I could hear parts of their conversation. The one that's pointing his hand mentioned a lightsaber. They might have one." The Transdosians around began to laugh. But the one in the center looked and saw Ezra's pocket.

"I see you've made yourself a lightsaber." He said. Silence filled the air as they all saw the metal tube in Ezra's pocket. "No matter. I'll kill you before you can even draw it." The others began to laugh again. Ezra didn't care what they thought. He was too caught up in the moment.

Ezra took this opportunity to check on Jai. His right arm appeared to be the only part that got hit although he was knocked out cold with blood flowing down his temples. Ezra heard the hunters stop joking and raise their guns. He turned around slowly and raised his right hand. A blast hit the ground near Ezra's shoe causing him to jump and fall to the ground.

_This won't do anything._

"Please don't kill him." Ezra pleaded.

_You're waisting your time._

"Down on your knees and hands behind your head." The one in the center said as he raised his hunting rifle. Ezra did as he was instructed not seeing any other option.

"Please I-"

"Sorry kid."

_Make a move._

"We did nothing wrong!" Ezra yelled. The Transdosians chuckled.

"You don't seem to understand." He said.

_This isn't going to last._

"We were hired to kill you."

_I'll die if I don't act!_

"So obviously you and your friend there have done something terrible."

_Is pride stopping me? This is survival of the fittest! Who cares about proving some girl wrong! This is my life! I can't waist it just so you can have the last laugh!_

"Even if it's just being born. So..." The rifle was pressed against Ezra's forehead head.

_OUT OF OPTIONS! DO SOMETHING NOW!_

"Any last words?" At this point, Ezra had tears running down the sides of his cheeks. He was too caught up in everything. Simply using the force wouldn't work thanks to that sniper. He was trapped. Cornered. It seemed as though there was no way out of this.

"I... I..." He looked back to Jai. He was still breathing.

"Don't worry. You'll be dead before him." Ezra's eyes widened. His pupils dilated and he gritted his teeth together. He stared down the Transdosian that had the gun to his head. A fire was burning in his eyes.

_Finally._

"I will kill you." And with that, the Transdosian holding the gun noticed the ground begin to shake. Their guns were literally ripped from their hands. In a panic, all but the Transdosian in the center for their hovercrafts. Even the sniper left seeing that he couldn't hit anything with all of the guns blocking his shot.

The remaining hunter was left behind and turned back to Ezra, who was standing up at this point. His feet were firmly planted on the ground, his head tilting at that very ground. The ground remained shaking, but the guns tilted down at the hunter. While most weren't perfect, there were a few that could hit him for sure.

Ezra walked slowly to the Transdosian. The Hunter in turn, prepared a knife for the boy.

Ezra raised his right hand and the Hunter rose into the air. Causing him to drop the being began to choke. Ezra brought the Hunter to his level and even with the Hunter on his knees barely getting out his begs for mercy, Ezra was still choking him and looked the Hunter in the eye. Ezra was beyond furious and this frightened the Hunter. Not only that, but the Hunter saw a difference in the boy's face. However, didn't linger on it for too long as the lack of air began a larger priority than a boy's eyes changing colors.

"I- it was-"

"Orders? No. You chose this for yourself. You yourself should be prepared to die given how many that you've killed. Isn't that right?"

"Merc-" Ezra clenched his hand into a fist. The Hunter said no more and fell on his side and all of the guns fell to the ground. Ezra falling on his knees as the dust cleared revealing a red kissed sunset. He couldn't bring himself to cry. Ezra grabbed the dirt below his hands and looked at the body in front of him as well as the area around. The ground had cracked open and there wasn't a single animal in sight or being heard. Just the faintness of Jai's breathing and Ezra's words of regret were all that could be heard.

"I did this."

* * *

The Inquisitor leaned back in his chair and smiled as he stared at the hologram before him.

_The boy is advancing quickly. Good. I might come early just to see if he actually pulls it off. Of course, that would take some much needed practice that he still lacks._

"You've impressed me boy. Let us see what you do next."

* * *

Tears fell from Kanan's cheeks.

"Ezra... I'm sorry. I should've prepared you better. I should've told you about the dangers of the darkside rather than put it off even when you learned about it. If I didn't take you in, then none of this would've happened. I did this." But just as Kanan was going to shed more tears, he stopped himself, and a new fire filled his eyes as he sat up straight and crossed his legs.

"I did this. And I'm going to set it right."

* * *

**Author's notes: well that was interesting to write. The fall has begun and Travis is playing his part with the rebels. What new exciting adventures await our crew? Toon in next time to... Okay I'm done. Really I need to thank all of you for all of the support. This has become my most successful story (in terms of favorites at least) and I hope to write this the best I can in the future. I hope you all liked this and stick with me for the next chapter. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"My lord..."

"You have three days Inquisitor. If you cannot break him by then I will be forced to do it myself."

"Very well. I won't disappoint you."

"Don't make promises you may not be able keep."

"Yes master."

"How is the boy doing?"

"With respect, you care about one child?"

"He's the first padawan we've had in some time. I'm wondering if he's progressing."

"My lord, he is progressing beautifully. He's already used the darkside to his advantage in killing one of those bounty hunters."

"Good. It appears we finally have a contender for you."

* * *

"Three days?" Sabine asked. Hera nodded as she passed around the room. Zeb had his hands folded as he sat on the couch trying to think of what to do.

"Yes." Travis answered. "From the report that my Intel was able to get ahold of, Vader is becoming impatient with the Inqusitor and is giving him three days to break your friend."

"So what do we do now?" Zeb asked. "Hera?" Hera stopped moving.

"I don't know. Fulcrum said we'd have enough back up in a week but if they go even to the middle rim it'll be hard to get to him."

"Well, did fulcrum give you his coordinates?" Travis asked. Hera nodded.

"We can't go alone though." Hera said.

"But it's our only shot." Zeb said.

"Kanan wouldn't want all of us to get captured."

"Kanan's opinion doesn't matter here Hera." Sabine added. "We all know he'd risk anything just to get us back if we were captured. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I did nothing if any of you got captured." Hera froze for a few minutes before nodding with a smile.

"Okay. But I think we'll need backup regardless."

* * *

Dhara, having an unusually quite day, was able to hunt for food for a change. When she made it back to her base with her food, she quickly began roasting some animals that she had managed to catch over the fire. Right when she was about to take a bite, she stopped and turned to the opening to her base. After a few seconds, Ezra's face emerged from the darkness.

Dhara froze.

"I need your help." Dhara dropped her food and ran over to Ezra. Ezra helped her carry the boy on Ezra's back closer to the fire.

"What happened?" Dhara asked as she tied up Jai's wound with some leaves and string. Ezra looked up. But he didn't answer.

"Fine then, I'll be straight forward with you. What did it take to get those guns and why is this kid bleeding out?" Ezra stood up and turned around to the exit.

"Where are you going?" Dhara asked.

"I... I need to be alone." Before Ezra could leave, Dhara grabbed his arm.

"You can't just take off after giving me an injured person." Dhara said. "He's your responsibility not mine." Ezra froze.

"You don't understand... I-"

"Caused this? Yeah I suspected that much." Ezra's eyes widened as he dropped to the ground. Dhara bent down and held his shoulder.

"you don't understand Dhara. I... I killed someone, but I don't regret it." Dhara's eyes widened but quickly relaxed as she patted his shoulder.

"It's okay. Believe me I've made worse mistakes while on this moon." Ezra turned to her, tears developing in his eyes.

"Like what?" Ezra asked. Dhara didn't look at Ezra.

"It doesn't matter what. In order to survive here we have to move on." Ezra pulled his knees to his chest.

"But what if we can't?" Dhara looked to the ground.

"Then you die." She stood up and walked over to Jai. "Get some rest." Ezra wiped away the tears that were forming and with a smile leaned back.

"Okay."

* * *

The Inquisitor walked to Kanan's cell with an unsure grin on his face. He was stopped by agent Kallus and three storm troopers just as he was about to enter the cell.

"What seems to be the problem Kallus?"

"I saw what you did to the jedi. I told you we needed him in moving condition."

"And what if I told you I was under direct orders from my master to use whatever means necessary to get him to talk?" Kallus gulped.

"Just, be less physical is all I'm saying." The inquisitor begrudgingly nodded. However a second later he got an idea. And a truly awful smile crept across his face.

The inquisitor opened the door. When he walked inside, he found Kanan meditating.

Kanan's eyes opened slowly as he glared at the man in front of him.

"Can I help you?" Kanan asked. The inquisitor chuckled.

"I didn't realize how much fire you had left after the beating you took." Kanan smiled.

"Well I'm just full of surprises. Now, shall we continue?" The Inquisitor kept his grin.

"Indeed. However, I have different plans for you jedi." The Inquisitor answered. Kanan raised an eyebrow, and not two seconds later he was lifted up into the air and slammed against the metal slab he hadn't missed. The Inquisitor locked him in.

"So what's you're plan?" Kanan asked. "More electric shocks?" The inquisitor's smile grew as he raised his hand up to the jedi's face. Kanan began to recoil.

"You're a smart Jedi. Figure that out for yourself."

* * *

"Fulcrum, I know this is short notice but-"

"I wanted to speak with you too Hera." Fulcrum responded. "It's about Kanan, he-"

"Is leaving in three days." Hera said as she looked to the ground. "Is their any way we can get to him before then?" Fulcrum stroked her chin.

"I've already got some volunteers but..." Fulcrum paused, and then proceeded to shake her head. "It'll have to be a stealth mission. We can't go in guns blazing."

"How would we do that?" Hera asked. Fulcrum shrugged.

"Well, there's three ways to get into a star destroyer without causing suspicion. You either come in through a tie fighter, be a delivery crew, or you're captured and being brought in for interrogation." Hera chuckled uneasily.

"Well we can't go undercover. Not with all of the pictures of my ship everywhere."

"And getting captured is out of the question, so I guess we'll have to get ahold of a tie fighter and a code to get onto the ship. I'll see what I can do. At the very least we might be able to get a code. It's the tie fighter that I'm worried about."

"We'll see what we can do on Lothal. I'll call you again tomorrow."

"May the force be with you my friend." Fulcrum hung up. Hera stood in confusion for a moment before turning around and leaving the cockpit to get back to the others.

* * *

"So we need a tie?" Sabine asked. Hera nodded.

"But if we steal one now they'll be looking for the ID number and suspect it's us if we try to use it." Hera continued.

"Unless the tie has been missing for over a month..." Zeb whispered. Everyone stared at Zeb.

"What are you talking about?" Hera asked in an almost motherly tone. Zeb scratched the back of his head and half smiled and looked to Sabine who's eyes widened.

"Well, she was going to find out at some point." Sabine sighed.

"Sabine. What's going on." Hera commanded.

"Remember that tie that Ezra and Zeb stole a while back?" Hera nodded. "Well they didn't destroy it." Hera was taken aback.

"You mean-"

"That's brilliant!" Travis exclaimed. The the crew turned to him with an eyebrow raised. He collected himself and then coughed before he continued. "We can use that tie to get in undetected. And maybe even cause a distraction of the sorts. That way half of us can go and look for the Jedi." Travis looked up and saw Hera stroking her chin.

"I suppose that could work. Sabine, is the tie in working condition?" Sabine nodded slightly.

"It can fly. theirs just one problem." She took a circular divide out of her pocket and pressed a button revealing a photo of the tie. "I needed something to paint."

* * *

Ezra found himself in the black void again however something was different. There was a boy standing by it. He wore a red shirt and black pants, his hair was navy and tied into a ponytail that stretched down his back.

"Hello?" Ezra asked. The boy turned around and Ezra stood in horror.

The boy's apparent red shirt turned out to be a vest for a black shirt. However what Ezra paid attention to was the boy's face. It was pitch black like the area around him.

"What is this?" Ezra asked.

"No..." Echoed across the space. Ezra still stood in confusion.

"Who are you?" The boy didn't say a word. He instead gestured to the oval that had appeared behind him. Inside, There were flashes of a woman in a brown cloak with brown braided hair that looped to the back of her head.

"Ezra..." Ezra could recognize the voice now. It was Kanan's.

"Kanan?" He asked the space. The boy next to him simply grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look back at the screen. Now, a young boy was running to the woman dressed similarly only his hair was shorter and he had a braid going down the side of his cloak.

"Stay away..." Ezra turned away from the screen and when the boy tried to pull him back he wouldn't movie. His eyes were shit tight. The boy sighed. The picture changed. Now it was moving like a video, however it was something Ezra wished to forget.

"Open this door!" Ezra's eyes snapped open.

"Mommy! There are men at the door!"

"NO!" The floor beneath Ezra became lit revealing many cracks on a white surface. The boy also became lit and his face was revealed. It was Ezra's with one change. His eyes were golden and cold.

"How long are you going to take to see the truth?"

* * *

"You call out to your padawan in times of crisis?" The Inquisitor asked Kanan as he tried to break down Kanan's mental barriers. Kanan continued to wince in pain.

"Or could he be that you feel he's sensing your pain?" Kanan didn't respond however his wincing did stop. The inquisitor smiled and halted his attack. Kanan bent over and took many deep breaths.

"You were around his age at the time of order 66 were you not?" The Inquisitor asked.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Kanan asked.

"Well, perhaps you're trying to protect him like your master before you." Kanan's eyes widened for a second before relaxing.

"That's what all masters should strive for with their pupil. I don't see how mine is different." The Inquisitor's smile grew.

"You are protecting him." Kanan's eyes narrowed.

"Only from people like you!"

"No it's not that. No you're not protecting. You're hiding." The Inquisitor suddenly attacked Kanan and managed to see a little before Kanan's walls blocked him out. The inquisitor stumbled back from the force but remained smiling. Kanan wasn't even looking at him anymore. His head was bent down in shame.

"Such a foolish final regard." The Inqusitor stated as he walked back to Kanan. "Run? From what? Your fate?"

* * *

"It's orange." Hera said as she stared at the tie. They had somehow made it back onto Lothal with little problems and Sabine had begrudgingly shown them the tie.

"And yellow." Zeb added.

"Only around the cockpit." Sabine continued.. "I haven't had that much free time lately. It could've been worse." Hera turned to Zeb.

"Can we paint over it?"

"We don't have the time for it to dry. Not with Sabine's colors anyway."

"Hey! Who carries around that shade of gray anyway? In spray paint no less?! It's completely devoid of life! Besides, I'm sure the storm troopers add a little flare to their ships."

"They're military ships." Travis broke in. "I doubt they let the storm troopers decorate them in favor of conformity." Hera sighed.

"Forget it. We just need to get a tie transport ship and we should be good. We'll have to move fast though." Hera took a deep breath. "Before we do this I need to know you guys are with me. I'm not forcing you to do this."

"Come on." Zeb said. "Just what do you take us for?"

"We're not cowards Hera." Sabine added. "We won't leave when the going gets tough." Hera smiled and turned to Travis.

Travis, this is our problem. You shouldn't be involved in the first place." Travis shook his head.

"I regrettably lost my only contacts on this planet eight hears ago." He stated as he looked Hera in the eye. "I feel I need to repay their loss in some way. If that means helping you get your friend back, then so be it." Hera smiled.

"Alright. Rest and prepare for now you guys. In a few hours we'll have Kanan and hopefully Ezra back."

(That night)

The storm troopers were having a normal night of boring as they made sure the ties that had just came in were functional before being sent out to serve the empire. Little did they realize the night they were about to have.

"Miss me bucketheads?" A voice came from behind one of the buildings. Four storm troopers near the voice turned around and saw Sabine holding one of her spray paint guns.

"It's her!" One yelled and shot first. Sabine dodged easily and soon the rest of the storm troopers focused on her. In the background, Zeb and Travis ran to the transport ship. While there were a few storm troopers, Travis managed to dispense them with ease with Travis pulling out his own blaster and managing to waist very little ammo.

"Didn't realize you were such a good shot." Zeb said as he tossed the troopers out of the entrance. Travis chuckled as he fired up the engines.

"When you're constantly hiding from the empire, you tend to pick up on a few things." The ship slowly began to hover in the air and Sabine after placing a few bombs on the ties that she had passed, jumped onto the ship.

"Bye bye bucketheads!" She said as she pressed the button to activate the bombs.

"Not again. Everyone evacuate!" One trooper yelled as the bombs went off. And the ties exploded.

Sabine walked into the cockpit.

"Good job boys." She said. When she made it to Travis she lightly punched his shoulder. "Looks like the old timer still has a few tricks up his sleeve." Travis chuckled.

"You should've seen him earlier. He took all of them out. With a single blaster. He may even be a better shot than you." Sabine glared at him.

"Now I don't think I'm that good." Travis said.

* * *

"Fulcrum, we have the transport."

"Good. I have my team and a few ships at our disposal. We'll meet you tonight at 100 hours a few clicks outside of where Kanan is to avoid detection."

"We?"

"Yes. I'll be joining you on this."

"Fulcrum you don't have to do this."

"I'm not going to let another jedi die. Especially when he has no idea what he's apart of."

"But you do. And if they get you-"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"But fulcrum I-"

"End of discussion. I'm helping you whether you want me to or not."

* * *

"He got beat up pretty badly." Ezra opened his eyes to see two figures standing over a passed out Jai. One was Dhara, the other was someone Ezra had never met. His blond hair touched his shoulders and his uniform was somehow in worse repair than Dhara's. He didn't even have the boots anymore. It didn't even look like it fit the body that it was attached to. Said body looking like it belonged to a 17 year old,

"Pretty badly is an understatement Dhara!" He yelled.

"Well don't be yelling at me for this! You shouldn't have given him this much freedom if he'd be stupid enough to let this happen!" The other boy backed away a few steps.

"Jai would never let this happen unless..." The boy looked at Ezra. "YOU!" He picked up Ezra by his neck. "What did you do?"

"John stop!" Dhara yelled. "It's not Dev's fault!"

"You were with him weren't you?" Ezra didn't respond. He was too busy struggling against John's hand. John dropped Ezra to the ground. As Ezra recovered, he noticed that John too was on then ground. He looked to Dhara, she was holding nothing. All that was outstretched was her right hand. John stood up and faced Dhara.

"I see you've been practicing." He said with a grin. Dhara kept herself collected as she kept her hand outstretched to John. He fell again, only this time, he was pushed back to the exit. Dhara walked over to him.

"I won't hesitate to do it again John." She said sternly. John kept his grin as he stood up and shrugged his shoulders.

"I think you and I both know who would win in a fight if we gave it our all." Dhra gritted her teeth. "However you are better when it comes to treating the wounded so I'll let you take care of Jai for me. I'll be back tonight to pick him up." With that John left.

Ezra stared at Dhara who smiled.

_She can use the force?!_

"Sorry you had to go through that. John gets very protective." Dhara said.

"What... How..." He couldn't express his thoughts.

"I can teach you, if you want."

* * *

**Authors notes: sorry for the month long hiatus guys. I had a chapter finished, but then I realized how stupid it was and tried to improve it. Hope you guys like this! :) anyway my twist is revealed! Yeah so this is my thought process as to why Dhara was kidnapped I the first place. I mean, why else would a cadet go with the inquisitor? Now keep in mind I doubt that this happened to her, but rather the reasoning behind her being kidnapped was that she can use the force. How can they tell some may ask? that would be a spoiler. However if any of you gave it enough though I'm pretty sure you'd figure it out. :)**

**Now onto rebels news,**

**They just spoiled everything that's going to be interesting now didn't they? How did Rex survive order 66? Did he kill any jedi? Wait, does this mean that Styles might be alive too? HOLLY SHIT! Okay to those who haven't read the Kanan comic, spoiler warning but Styles was I believe the leader of the troopers that Kanan and his master were apart of when order 66 happened. So yeah that would be amazing! Also, the girl Inquisitor is either ventress or Barriss. I'm leaning more towards Barriss since I think they'll keep ventress a bounty hunter that'll come in later.**

**that's all for me tonight. Have a good one and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Alright. So when will we get to Kanan?" Zeb asked as he and the others waited in the cockpit.

"We're at the coordinates my friend told us to be at. Once she arrives she's going to come onto our ship and help us get Kanan."

"Is there any other help coming?" Travis asked.

"We'll have some ships coming in to keep the other ships busy while we infiltrate the ship."

"Other ships?" Sabine asked.

"I've detected two other star destroyers by the one holding Kanan. To try to prevent storm trooper reinforcements when we drop Sabine's surprise off, we'll need cover."

"Just one last question." Sabine started. "Just why are these people helping us?" Hera sighed.

"After this fight I'll tell you." Sabine gritted her teeth.

"Very well then." Travis said. "How much longer till your friends arrive?" Hera checked the time. 12:55

"Any minute now." She replied. "Are all of you ready?" Zeb took his gun from behind his back, Sabine pulled out her two pistols, Travis pulled out his own blaster and chopper stuck out his taser.

"Is that even a question?" Zeb said. Suddenly the radar began to beep. Everyone turned to the windows and saw various ships coming out of hyperspace. One came right next to the transport ship.

"Hello?" A transmission in the radio came in.

"Yes? This is Hera. I read you."

"Good. I'm ready to attach on my end."

"As am I." Hera said.

"See you soon friend."

After a few minutes the ships were connected, and from the other emerged a cloaked woman appearing to be a tweelik with dark orange skin. She bowed as she stood in front of everyone.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. My codename is fulcrum and I will be helping you."

The others all stood awestruck.

"How is this possible?" Sabine asked. Hera smiled.

"Fulcrum has agreed to help us find Kanan. She'll also be instrumental in figuring out if he's still on the ship."

"And why is that?" Travis asked.

"Because sir," fulcrum broke in. She then extended her hand out and Travis' blaster floated to said hand. "I can use the force." The others gasped.

_So intelligence was right after all._

"So you're going to use the force to find him?" Zeb asked.

"Thats the plan." Hera answered. "Well Fulcrum?"

"Once we get in range, I should be able to feel his presence. If not, the we'll leave immediately." Fulcrum answered.

"Okay." Travis said. "When are we leaving?"

"Right when Hera detaches my ship."

* * *

"I've returned jedi." The Inquisitor said with a grin. Kanan remained disinterested, he didn't even look the Inquisitor in the eye. This caused a smile to creep across his face.

"Come now jedi. I'd let you rest permanently if you would only tell me who fulcrum is." Kanan's eyes narrowed.

"So you're promising death if I help you?" The inquisitor shook his head.

"By rest, I meant you won't be forced to go through this torture anymore."

"I already told you I don't know anything." The Inquisitor sighed.

"If you will not cooperate, perhaps _Ezra _will given the proper motivation." Kanan's head jerked up as he shot a cold glared at the inquisitor. The Inquisitor's smile disappeared.

"If you want to punish me for not knowing information then go right ahead. But leave him out of this." The grand inquisitor sighed and began to electrocute Kanan.

* * *

The crew on the ghost and fulcrum jumped out of hyperspace and saw three star destroyers in front of them. Everything was in place. The others were going to arrive shortly after they knock out the main power in the star destroyer to keep reinforcements from coming onto the ship. Meanwhile, everyone else would rush to the detention area where Kanan was most likely being held. However this whole plan hinged on Kanan actually being there.

As fulcrum outstretched her hand, she desperately searched for his presence between the three ships.

"Do you think this will work?" Travis asked Zeb.

"Don't know. Hopefully."

"Is it wise to hing everything on the force?"

"We don't have anything else to use." Hera said. "Fulcrum have you found anything?" Fulcrum shook his head.

"A user of the darkside of the force is aboard the ship. Wait..." Two seconds later Fulcrum grabbed her head and winced.

"Caleb..." She whispered.

"Who's Caleb?" Zeb asked. Hera's eyes narrowed.

"Fulcrum? Is he there?" Fulcrum collected herself.

"He's here. But he's in pain. We need to get to him as soon as possible."

"And Ezra?"

"He's not there."

"Sending codes now."

* * *

Two storm troopers watched as various tie fighters landed into the hanger. However one in particular stood out. The area around the cockpit has been painted with checkerboards and there was much yellow and orange accompanying it.

"That's not regulation." One said.

"I kind of like it." The other replied. Before they could call it in, massive electrical explosion erupted from the cockpit of the tie causing themselves, and many other stormtroopers to pass out. The star destroyer's lights dimmed and the rebels took their chance.

* * *

"We're on emergency power Kallus."

"Call for reinforcements for the other ships now and get every able body trooper to the prison!"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Sir! Five ships have emerged from hyperspace and are firing at the reinforcements."

"Focus our fire power on those ships! We need to get those storm troopersover here now!"

* * *

"So predicable. Oh well. Perhaps I'll be able to meet fulcrum. I guess you're just bait at this point Padawan."

* * *

Zeb managed to attach the transport ship to the side of the star destroyer closest to the cells.

"Chopper, keep the engine running." Hera said as they moved to the exit. Sabine pulled out a small bomb but Fulcrum waved her hand and pulled a small tube from within her cloak. Everyone's eyes but Travis' widened for he didn't realize the implications until she turned it on revealing a white lightsaber. The then cut the steel into a large circle for them to walk through. They stood speechless for a few seconds before running after her.

"Just who are you?" Sabine asked.

"I'm a friend. Right now that's all you need to know." The others looked to Hera.

"I'll explain things later. Right now we need to get to Kanan." Travis and the others raised an eyebrow at this, but nonetheless followed the group as they traversed through the maze of the ship. Over the comlink, chopper came in spouting various beeps.

"Aw karabast. Some of them didn't get knocked out?"

"Don't worry." Sabine said. "On a ship this big, it'll take them a while to find us." Just as they turned the corner, a group of five troopers found them.

"They found us." Travis said as he pulled out his blaster and took out three of them with ease. Zeb and Sabine also took out blasters and took the other two out. Fulcrum took the lead as they encountered more troopers to which she punched and kicked them while moving the troopers into the best position to be shot by the others. They continued down the hall until they met up with more troopers.

"Keep going!" Hera yelled as she shot a few storm troopers. After the troopers they were currently fighting were taken care of, they made it to the door where the prison cells were located.

"Sabine, Zeb and Travis," Hera started. "Guard this door. Fulcrum and I will get Kanan."

"Got it." Zeb said as he cocked his gun. Fulcrum and Hera ran inside and closed the door behind them.

"Good work out there." Fulcrum said as they ran down the hall.

"Are you sure you'll be able to find him?" Hera asked trying to stay on topic. Fulcrum nodded.

"We're getting close to him."

_Caleb... Caleb!_

_Who are you?_

_Just stay calm. We're coming for you._

_What about Ezra?_

_He's not on the ship._

_He's... He's not here?_

_It's okay. We'll find him._

Hera and Fulcrum ran down the hall until fulcrum stopped dead in her tracks in front of one of them. She used the force to then open one of the doors and they found a drowsy Kanan within. He was covered in bruises and whatever prison outfit he had been put in was now a slight shade of red in certain places. When Kanan locked eyes with them, his face was filled with horror.

"RUN!" He rasped. Just as they stepped inside, the inquisitor came from the left to strike down Fulcrum however she pulled out her own white lightsaber and blocked his attack forcing him across the room causing a massive dent in the wall.

"Hera get him out of here!" Fulcrum yelled as she pointed to Kanan. The restraints were lifted and Kanan fell onto Hera. She then ran out of the room with Kanan over he shoulder.

"You wish to die alone?" The Inquisitor asked as he pointed his lightsaber at her. Fulcrum shook her head.

"No. I simply don't want you taking any cheap shots." The Inquisitor smiled.

"Then jedi, let us begin." Instead of fighting, fulcrum used the force to force the inquisitor against another part of the wall creating another dent. She then ran to the door and left him with this before closing them.

"Sorry but I'm not going to waste my time fighting you."

* * *

Hera quickly got to Zeb, Travis and Sabine who were currently gunning down various stormtroopers that were making their way over to them.

"What do we do now? Where's fulcrum?" Travis asked.

"She's with the Inquisitor." Hera answered as she tried to carry Kanan. A few seconds later, Fulcrum caught up with them just as Zeb was slinging Kanan over his shoulder. He groaned.

"Ezra..." Hera patted him on the back.

"It's okay, we'll find him." Hera soothed. After Sabine threw out another smoke bomb the crew set out and eventually made it to there ship. However regrettably trouble was waiting there for them.

The band of rebels ran as fast as they could down the various halls to get back to their ship. They ran into fewer and fewer storm troopers the closer they got to the ship. Finally they reached the ship. However a different evil waited for them.

"Why hello." Agent Kallus said as he, and about ten storm troopers walked towards the rebels. Fulcrum ran to the front and used the force to push all of them down the hallway.

"Let's go!" She yelled and everyone boarded the ship and after Hera sent out a transmission saying it was okay to go, everyone jumped into hyperspace. With Kanan being treated by a medical droid everything seemed to be looking up. All that remained was getting back Ezra.

* * *

"Can everyone here do that?" Ezra asked trying to grasp what he was seeing. There were others, others just like him! He could help them, teach them what Kanan taught him, well, what little Kanan taught him.

"All of us figures it out at some point." She answered with a grin. "And it's good for other stuff too." She pointed to a small rock next to Ezra and had it float into the palm of her hand. Ezra grin grew even bigger.

If the others see this far, then all we need is to get some weapons and we can get off of this rock in no time!

"There's one last useful tool with this ability." Dhara said, now growing more serious. "Remember when I wanted you to hide instead of helping those people?" Ezra's smile fell.

"Yeah." He answered solemnly. Dhara gently held Ezra's hands up so that he would look at her in the eye.

"Well to be honest, the main reason I didn't help them was because of this cold feeling. Like they were being watched. A long time a go, when I first felt it, I thought it was just coincidence. But as it kept being right, I began to control it, and now I can sense people good or bad coming."

She can feel the force within people?! I thought that was only possible to see the darkside!

"I know this sounds crazy-"

"Dhara..." Ezra interrupted. "There's something I need to show you." Ezra reached out his right hand as he pointed to a far corner of the tree hole. There was a sound of various animals wrestling about until finally one small lizard poked through the wall and crawled onto Ezra's shoulder. He then let the creature go and moved vines out of the way from the entrance revealing an early sunrise. When Ezra turned back to Dhara, he discovered that she was speechless. His smile returned however rather than out of excitement, it was for happiness.

"It's called the force." He said warmly.

* * *

"My lord please forgive me." The Inquisitor pleaded. That didn't matter though. Lord Vader raised him off the ground as he choked him with the force.

"I don't want you apology inquisitor. I want results." Vader dropped the Inquisitor allowing the man to gasp for air. "Do you know their current location?" The Inquisitor coughed a few times before standing up and answering.

"Agent Kallus recently received a transmission from Travis. They're returning to Lothal."

"Good. Let them land, and then lay Siege to the planet. Check every home and burn everything that is owned by someone who's known for being a sympathizer with the rebels. Let the citizens produce the rebels in order for things to return to normal. That will show them who the heroes are."

"It will be done my lord."

* * *

**Author's notes: I'm back baby! Sorry for the long wait. I had MANY rewrites to this chapter to the point of me almost giving up on this fanfic. However I stuck to it and finally made this. Sorry if it's not the greatest. I just had a lot of trouble deciding how they were going to break Kanan out.**

**Now as for thoughts on the episodes of season 2, well excluding the first one and the one with the other Inquisitors, I don't really like this season. It's raised more questions and caused me to rate quit more than once already. How is that possible? It took 9 episodes in season 1 for that to happen. It's why this fanfic exists in the first place. Me rage quitting how stupid the Inquisitor was in episode 9. **

**Oh well. Hopefully things will improve. Until next time you guys.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After the Ghost crew had gotten onto their ship it took Hera less than a minute to jump them to hyperspace. Sabine and Zeb barely got a look at the rebel forces but it was clear the rebellion was still in its infancy. As the crew, fulcrum and Travis crowded around Kanan, the ghost crew and Fulcrum were internally wondering what was next. Sure Kanan was back but Ezra was no where to be found.

In Travis' case it had more to do with not helping Kallus for the second time. Granted the first time he had a better excuse than getting caught up in the chaos but still. He worried about testing Kallus' patience.

Fulcrum broke the silence with a deep breath.

"Well, a deals a deal." She said with a smile as everyone looked up. "My real name is Ahsoka Tano." Everyone excluding Hera and Travis' eyes widened.

"The Padawan who-" Sabine started.

"I left the order on my own accord yes." Ahsoka cut her off. Travis smiled.

"It's a pleasure to formally meet you Ms. Tano." Travis said. Asoka offered a half smile. "The same goes for you senator. Your help when inspiring those to rise up against the empire has given us many recruits. It's fantastic that you're finally going to work directly with the rebellion."

Travis' smile only grew.

"I do my best. However I'm no military tactician. Regrettably I'm only good for stirring up the masses." Zeb patted Travis on the back a little too hard sending the old man stumbling forward a few steps.

"Ah don't be like that. You did a great job shooting those buckets heads." Zeb complimented. Travis chuckled as he collected himself.

"Thank you for your kind words." Travis responded as he took one last look at Kanan before walking towards the door.

"Well," Travis started with a yawn, "it's been a very long night and I think all of us, especially Caleb needs some rest. Hm?" Everyone else first flinched at the use of the name, 'Caleb,' before nodding slightly and excluding Hera left the room in the hopes that tomorrow would bring better times.

"Oh one last thing. Hera?" He asked. "Where exactly are we off to next?" She simply whispered,

"Lothal."

"Thank you Hera. And don't worry. I'm sure your friend is going to be just fine." Hera smiled at this remark however when the seemingly cheerful Travis left the room, she broke down into tears.

Travis though, however optimistic he seemed, was still taking the day in.

_So that was the Padawan. The grand Inquisitor didn't hold back at all. This level of torture was unnecessary given that my undercover work has allowed me to deduce and even have Asoka admit who exactly she is. Then again this is also a battle between the two sides of the force so I can't blame that Inquisitor for being so harsh on its enemy. Still, this man isn't even a Jedi. He's too young to have passed the trials. He had no chance of defeating an Inquisitor in hand to hand combat let alone a nettle between minds._

_Travis let out a sigh as he left the room. _

"I'll never understand these people."

* * *

_The scene played over and over._

_She tells me I have to run._

_And that she would be right behind me._

_It was the first time she ever lied to me._

_And..._

_At the time, I knew she lied._

_But I ran anyway._

_She died to save me._

_"You really are a coward."_

_Suddenly, Kanan was taken out of the memory and instead to a black void with a single spotlights under which stood himself and the Inquisitor. Kanan's eyes widened and filled with fear for his life. Then without a second thought,_

_He ran into the darkness._

_The Inquisitor simply sighed. His words echoing through the void._

_"It's such a shame really. To think I actually saw you as a threat. You're nothing more than a child running from what you fear. Caleb Dume._

_"I guess that's all Depa Bilaba was good for then."_

* * *

"The force? But that was only what the Jedi could..." Dhara trailed off. She looked Ezra in the eye. "You mean, we can do what the Jedi did?" Ezra nodded. Dhara looked back at the sunrise.

"We'll talk more tonight." She said.

Ezra and Dhara covered Jai in various leaves and even tucked him away in the corner of the tree in order to try to make sure the bounty hunters wouldn't find him. Meanwhile the rest of the day was spent hiding from the bounty hunters and collecting food. What Dhara hadn't shown Ezra before was that she had various hunting traps all around the forest. This surprised Ezra as while in his two weeks of undercover work they had briefly gone over what to do if they were stranded, they didn't go that far in depth in the various traps you could make.

_I guess they go in more depth in teaching survival skills further down the road._

When night finally fell and the two arrived at their hiding spot, they saw John sitting at the fire talking and laughing with Jai. When Dhara and Ezra got closer, Jai turned to them and waved only to regret it as he winced in pain and lowered his arm. Ezra and Dhara looked at each other before Dhara shrugged her shoulders and motioned Ezra to go and sit with them

"So you're the kid that got Jai out of the academy huh?" John asked as he pointed at Ezra. Ezra nodded.

"Yeah." John smiled and held out his hand.

"The name's John." Ezra hesitantly shook the cadet's hand. "Sorry about yesterday."

"No it's fine. I'd me angry if I found one of my friends shot too." The two boys gave each other an uneasy smile and chuckle. John looked down at Jai and back to Ezra.

"He also told me you knew how to use the power before you came here." Ezra narrowed his eyes as he took a couple of berries out of his pocket.

"If you're talking about the force then yes." John's eyes widened and then closed tightly when he reached out his hand at Ezra. The berries he had floated out of his hand and into John's. When he opened his eyes he smiled.

"So that's the force?" He said as he ate one of the berries. Ezra glared at him and took a few more out of his pocket. "I thought the Jedi were extinct."

"Well you thought wrong." Ezra answered. "In fact, the reason I know how to do this," suddenly a furry animal came out of one of the holes in the wall and crawled on John's shoulder. John then stood up and tried to get the animal off. It clung on until Ezra lowered his hand.

"Is because a Jedi trained me." John sat in shock for a few seconds before grinning as he turned to Dhara.

"No." She said. John didn't listen.

"But Dhara-"

"I said no!" She yelled, so caught up in emotions that she was standing. John's grin turned into a frown as he stood up to look her in the eye.

"I am not going to die here Dhara!" He yelled. "If this kid knows how this 'force' thing works then we need him to teach us so we can get home!"

"He's just a kid John!" Dhara yelled. "And I'm not putting his life in danger like the others!" Ezra stood up after Dhara finished her sentence silencing John.

"Dhara," Ezra started. "I just want to help everyone get home. And since we really don't have any weapons that can stand a chance against these guys, if we're ever going to leave and get home we need to fight. And right now, the only weapon all of us seem to have is the force." Ezra held out his hand to Dhara.

"Please. Let me help you get off of this moon and home to your family." Dhara stared at Ezra's hand. Tears nearly falling from her face. She reached her hand out to Ezra's but hesitated and backed away.

"I..." She started but did not finish.

"Dhara?" She held her hand to her chest before turning and running out the entrance.

"Dhara!" Ezra yelled. He was about to run after her but John grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?!" Ezra asked forcefully.

"We need to give her some space." John nearly yelled back. "She's still hung up about what happened last time." Ezra took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. Afterwards John let go and walked back to the fire where Ezra joined him. The two laid down and without another word, slowly fell asleep.

_I'll wake up early and find her._

* * *

_Ezra was in the void again. However this time, the boy was gone, and he was alone under a spotlight._

_"Hello?" Ezra called out. A few seconds later he heard a large thud. He turned and saw a boy, about his age with short brown hair and a strange braid running down the right side of his shoulder. The boy was also dressed in robes of various colors and carried a lightsaber around his belt. Ezra recognized him from the last dream. He reached out to the boy, but something blocked him. Like an invisible wall._

_"It is useless boy." A new voice came. And surly enough out of the darkness walked the inquisitor. Ezra began to bang as hard as he could against whatever invisible wall was blocking his reach. The boy pressed his hands against his ears._

_"The darkness, it will swallow you up." The boy pressed his hands harder and closed his eyes as tight as he could._

_"Master please..."_

_"Your master cannot save you boy. Nothing can." The inquisitor lit his lightsaber and took his time in getting ready to kill the boy. Ezra watched in horror and self loathing. He even began to cry over not being able to save this boy, this possible construct of his own dreams. If he couldn't save one boy, then how was he going to help save the entire galaxy from the empire?_

**_Then save him._**

_But how?_

_**You remember.**_

_You mean... No. Not that._

_**Why not? It saved Jai.**_

_It wasn't right! It will never be right!_

**_Killing someone that's trying to kill you?_**

_That's not what I mean!_

_**Then what do you mean?**_

_I... I didn't regret killing him._

_**He tried to kill you.**_

_And I tortured him before killing him!_

_**I don't see your point.**_

_You just don't understand me then. I may not regret killing him, but I do regret doing it because of hatred, and then purposely taking longer because I hated him. That's not what Kanan taught me._

**_You are a moron. How can someone not hate the enemy?_**

_Well I-_

**_How could I be so stupid to not see that everything stems from hatred. Whether it be hatred of the world as it is or hatred for another person. This world is only ever changed through hatred._**

_And you call me a moron?_

_Ezra looked back at the boy._

_I don't want to help that kid because I hate the inquisitor. I'm doing it because he's in danger and I have to help him._

_**But he's in danger because of someone you hate.**_

_True. But I'm not helping him to get back at the Inqusitor. I'm doing it because he needs help otherwise he'll die._

**_You truly are a moron._**

_And you're every shade of stupid._

_The voice didn't respond to this._

_"You are all alone. Caleb." The inquisitor said. "And that is how you will die."_

_"No, he isn't." Ezra said as he pressed his hands as hard as he could against the wall and called out to the force. The inquisitor struggled but he could not move. Ezra took a deep breath._

_"Please let me help you!"_

_"Leave me alone!" Ezra's eyes shot open as he looked at the boy._

_"I just want to help. Please let me." Ezra pleaded. His hold on the inquisitor was looking loosening. "He's going to kill you!" Finally Ezra gathered the last of his strength and pushed the inquisitor into the darkness. There was a consequence to this. For what Ezra saw next was truly horrifying._

_The braided woman and boy he had seen in his last dream were running from clone troopers near a forest._

_"Run Caleb. I'll be right behind you."_

_The boy ran but she didn't follow._

_Instead, she was shot,_

_and boy ran even faster into the forest._

_There was a bloodcurdling scream that brought Ezra outside of this vision. After blinking a few times, Ezra saw that the Padawan who he had been trying to save was up from from his sitting position and stared darkly into eyes. In one motion he extended his arm and yelled,_

_"STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!"_

* * *

Ezra shot up; panting wildly. He saw that both John and Jai were fast asleep and that nightfall was still prevalent. There was only one thing left to do.

_If that boy rejected your help who's to say Dhara won't do the same?_

Ezra ignored the voice's point and ran off into the forest below hoping, begging the force that he could find her and help her.

* * *

_"You turn your back on your own padawan's help? Child, you truly are pathetic." The inquisitor laughed. Caleb remained standing and tried to use the force to send the inquisitor into the darkness. It failed and Caleb into the darkness, yet the Inqusitor's voice still echoed as if it were Caleb's own doubts nagging at him._

_"Or is it that your pride is at stake? You're the one that should be helping him. At least the boy appears to have his emotions under control. He's focusing all of his energy into trying to get back to you and your pathetic excuse for a rebellion. It's such a shame that you're not even yourself anymore."_

_"Shut up!" Caleb yelled as he tried to call out to the force again. However it failed. Out of the darkness, the inquisitor's hand grabbed Caleb's shoulder and dragged him back to the light. He threw the Padawan to the ground and watched as the boy tried to get to his feet, glaring constantly. The grand Inqusitor smiled._

_"Perhaps you are not without potential." The inquisitor said with a grin. "The darkside is pulling at you Caleb, but unlike your apprentice, you won't be swallowed up by it. You can control it, but only if you let yourself into its grasp." He put away his lightsaber and out-streached his right hand to Caleb._

_"Join me and I will give you powers you can only dream of."_

_Caleb sat hesitantly. Ever since that horrible night he'd been a coward. Never being able to protect those he cared about. He was Caleb Dume, a coward who left his own master to save his own life. Yet this coward now had a chance, a chance to grab power and use it for his own means._

_And yet, he stopped himself as different voice came from the back of his mind._

_"Just trust in the force. It will guide you. If you do not, then you will leave yourself open to the dark side. Please Caleb. Don't lose yourself."_

Caleb's eyes widened.

_"I won't be with you soon so you have to promise me you'll stay strong and not fall into the dark side."_

_How could he be so selfish? How could he so quickly forget the promise he had made to his master? How could he forget what he told Ezra? He could he expect Ezra to not fall into darkside's grasp? Did he really expect more from his Padawan than himself?_

_Caleb began to sob and the inquisitor glared._

_"You have to make a choice Caleb. Now do you want the power to save your life, or will I end it here where no one can hear you scream?"_

_"Do or do not. There is no try."_

_Caleb stopped sobbing and stood up. However by the time he was standing he was no longer himself._

_He became Kanan Jarrus._

_Kanan glared at the Inqusitor who simply reached for his lightsaber in an attempt to defend himself against the new towering form. However Kanan took out and lit his own lightsaber. The two looked each other in the eye before they charge._

_It was clear from the start that the Inqusitor had the upper hand. It didn't take long for him to loosen Kanan's grip on his lightsaber to have it be thrown from his hands._

_"You want to be a Jedi that badly? Then die like the rest of them!"_

_However Kanan didn't die, instead, he used the force to send the inquisitor flying into the darkness. Kanan looked down hat his hands and saw the fruit of his accomplishment. His trust in the force had paid off. He quickly retrieved his lightsaber and when the Inqusitor came running back, Kanan dodged the incoming assault. With one quick motion he activated and stabbed the Inquisitor through his chest._

_Kanan retracted his saber and stared coldly at his fallen opponent._

_"I am not Caleb Dume. I am Kanan Jarrus and you have no power here." Kanan said as he watched the Inquisitor gasp however he remained smiling._

_"You may have won this battle, but you and I both know your Padawan, no matter how tough of a front he puts up, is not so resilient. He will fall to the darkside, and this rebellion of yours will fall. I can't wait to watch you die." Kanan glared fiercely at the Inqusitor and readied his lightsaber._

_"I won't let that happen." Kanan answered coldly. The Inqusitor's smile only grew._

_"The darkside will either consume or kill us all boy. The only thing left up to chance is a person's willingness to fight and delay the inevitable."_

_"I am not a boy." Kanan answered coldly. The Inqusitor laughed at this._

_"You are just as much a boy as I am a servant of the darkside. Whether or not you accept this if up to you. However if I were you I'd take your pathetic excuse for a master's advice on this. Don't lose yourself Caleb._

_"I want our next to fight to be worthy of my time."_

_Kanan's eyes widened in anger as he readied his lightsaber for the final blow._

_Kanan swung and the Inqusitor stilled with a smile that burned into Kanan's very soul._

_"I won't let you fall Ezra."_

* * *

The inquisitor gasped for for air as he broke from his meditation. He glared at nothing as he sat himself back up. Things weren't progressing how he had originally planned.

_"We're it not for those accursed rebels I might've gotten the information out of the brat."_

"Grand Inqusitor." A familiar voice came. The Inqusitor turned to see agent Kallus standing at the doorway.

"Agent Kallus." He answered annoyed. "What is it?"

"News from our spy. The insurgents are returning to Lothal."

"Good. We will let them onto the surface and lay siege to the planet. They will be ours."

* * *

_**I'm back baby! And please oh please forgive the long, long wait for the update. Ideas for this come to me slowly. While I do have an end game, it's hard to think of how I'll get to it. So if you still care thanks for putting up with my shitty update schedule.**_


End file.
